112 Running Into Trouble

"I don't see anyone, do you?" An armored soldier asked another.

"Sure don't, they probably all ran off when they heard us come'n, those louts are as cowardly as a field mouse."

Groups of soldiers were marching in lockstep with each other, flaming torches in hand, lighting the darkening streets with flickering orange light. The shining city, Säravast, was now under martial law. As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, so did the soldiers' patience. Anyone, be it beggar or merchant, caught outside after dark were immediately apprehended then thrown into a holding cell under suspicions of sedition.

The first soldier stopped in his tracks, the torch he was holding fluttering in the chilly, winter breeze. "Wait, are field mice really cowards?"

"C'mon, it's just a saying."

"I've never heard that one before."

"It's just somethin' my Pa would say every now and then, and I can't believe you're hung up on that of all things."

They both started moving again, the light from the soldiers in front of them disappearing as they rounded the street corner. "We better hurry, the commander will tan our hides if we get too far behind."

Suddenly, right in front of them, a long tear in space tore open, blossoming like a tattered, crimson flower. Stepping out of the bloody flower, was a man dressed in a simple black robe. His face, illuminated by the eerie glow of the tear, and the flickering flames of their torches, seemed to twist and deform as the shadows snaked across his features.

The soldiers were at a loss, this was the last thing they had expected as they patrolled an area that had remained untouched by the riots. They were under strict orders to arrest anyone they might come across, with no exceptions; but they were not blind idiots either. They could tell that this man was a mage, someone who held a place of authority much higher than either one of them could hope to attain.

"Uh, Sir Mage…" One of the soldiers started, trying his best to sound out his words properly, "What brings you here, if I may ask."

The mage, looking around himself to get his bearings, barely registered the two armored and armed soldiers only a few feet away. "You haven't seen three children, have you? About this tall…" He said, holding his hand parallel to the ground. "Two boys and a girl."

They both shook their heads, "Forgive us, we have not."

Without saying another word, the mage trudged off in a random direction, leaving the two soldiers standing there, keeping their eyes on his back until they lost sight of him in the increasing darkness.

"What do we do?"

"Nothing. It's best to just leave it be, we don't want to get involved with mages, nothing good will come of it."

…..

Even though he was out and about, in the middle of a frosty winter night, searching for his wayward students, he was in a delightful mood. It had a little to do with his shifting disposition, but mostly to do with being able to use his newly gained innate talents. He had first learned of his new ability when he had attempted to open a Warp Gate back to the inn's basement. Instead of the spell activating in the usual fashion, space itself opened up for him with just a mere thought, surprising him greatly when he had first seen the crimson tear appearing in front of him.

He wasn't certain on the principles of the phenomenon but could safely say that it was a byproduct of him crafting his body from the remains of the monster. It did say that it traveled between planes, or at least had the ability to. It never told him how it had done so, and he had just assumed that it used its peculiar magic to facilitate the process. But now, with him being able to 'tunnel' through the space within this plane, he had to assume that the ability was something naturally occurring with the creature's biology, or so he thought.

Either way, it was something that greatly pleased him, every time he ripped space open with his bare hands he felt like an over excited schoolboy, playing with a new toy. And there was no telling what other mysterious abilities his new body possessed. Just thinking about it lightened his heart as he almost skipped down the darkened street.

"Now, where o where could they be?" Professor Kal hummed and ancient tune to himself as he casually made his way down the shadowy, silent street.

His eyes could see in darkness just as clearly as a bright, sunny day, so he had no issues navigating as he walked. And right now, he didn't see a soul. It was a far cry from before, it seemed that the soldiers had acted quickly in suppressing the riots, bringing a forced peace back to some parts of the city. Although, he did wonder how they were fairing with the remnants of the monster's creations at the moment. Especially the insectoid ones, they were particularly fierce. He was sure that they would be able to manage them, so he shrugged his shoulders at the thought and continued down the cobbled street.

It might have seemed as if he was traveling aimlessly, just picking a direction in random, but that was far from the case. He had placed a rudimentary tracking spell on all of his traveling companions before they had left Lenova, the capital of Amine. The spell he had used differed from many of the other variations of tracking spells he could have used in the fact that it didn't tell him exactly where his targets were.

It only gave him a vague 'feeling' of which direction his target was, that grew stronger the closer he came to them. The trade of for this inconvenience was that the spell was indetectable, meaning that when placed, the targets would have no idea that they were being tracked. Another boon to using this spell was its duration. It would remain on the target for years, leaching miniscule amounts of mana from the very targets it was applied to, all the while broadcasting their location.

Rounding a corner, Professor Kal came face to face with more soldiers marching down the empty street, holding their torches. Instead of his steps faltering, he continued on, brushing right past them even as they held up a hand, ordering him to stop.

"I said halt!" One soldier barked while the other drew his sword.

Professor Kal felt that his three students were close by, so he hadn't felt the need to ask about their whereabouts, but seeing that they were so eager to chat, he figured he'd ask. "You haven't seen three children, about this tall..."

"Shut your mouth." The soldier spat. More soldiers, reacting to the commotion, started to pour into the chilly street. "You're under arrest for failure to obey, and for suspicion of sedition! If you try to resist, then I will be forced to run you through where you stand!"

Professor Kal soon found himself surrounded, the soldiers all had their swords pointed towards him, their faces just as sharp as their blades. Holding up both of his hands in a gesture of compliance, Professor Kal's face never lost the wide smile inhabiting it. His plain black robes billowed as a sudden gust of wind blew through group, bringing with it a chill that ran up the soldiers' spines.

Bringing out a pair of cuffs held together by a short, rusty chain, a soldier approached Professor Kal, taking large, confident steps. Just as he was about to reach him, Professor Kal spoke, "Have you kissed your loved-ones goodbye?"

Halting his approach, the soldier couldn't help but question the strange remark. "What was that?"

"I've asked if you had kissed your love-ones goodbye today." Professor Kal said loudly, making sure everyone present could hear him clearly, "It's something one must do whenever parting, for you never know what can happen."

"What are you going on about?" One soldier remarked, "It looks like we've found ourselves a drunkard."

His remarks garnered stilted laughter from the group of armed men, many of them suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable, but trying to kill the feeling with forced humor. Professor Kal on the other hand laughed heartily at the man's poor joke, his deep cackles carrying far in the cold, night air. The uncomfortable feeling only intensified with the sounds of his manic laughter, many of the soldiers unconsciously backing away.

With his laughter becoming nothing more than a distant echo, Professor Kal pulled out a handkerchief and started to dab the corner of his eyes, "Ahh, yes, there is nothing in this world that can compare to a good joke." The soldiers all shifted uncomfortably in their armor, looking at each other with his words, "But in all seriousness, have you? You always want to make sure their last memories of you are pleasant ones, for if you insist on provoking me, that's all they will have left."

"Just grab 'em already, I'm freez'n my ass off out here." A soldier said, goading on his compatriot holding the iron handcuffs.

"A… all right… let me see your hands!" The soldier stammered hesitantly, taking one step closer to Professor Kal.

Professor Kal slowly turned to face the soldier, his robe's wide sleeves concealing the hands the soldier had demanded to see. Raising up his arms, Professor Kal let the soft fabric to slide down past his wrists, giving the soldier what he wanted.

As the soldier moved in to clasp the iron cuffs around his wrists, Professor Kal spoke, "Now you see them, now you don't."

With those strange words, both of Professor Kal's hands faded from existence, leaving nothing but two stumps with sharp, bloodless edges. The soldier's eyes went wide as he dropped the iron cuffs onto the cobbled street, creating a sharp clatter as they bounced. He wanted to shout out in warning, desperate to tell the others that were unable to see what was happening, but he could not. An intense crushing sensation from deep inside his chest paralyzed his body, it felt like his eyes were threatening to pop out of their sockets, and that his heart was going to implode.

Standing there, barely able to draw in short, shaky breaths, with blood running from his wide-open eyes, the soldier watched in horror as the man's hands reappeared, clutching something moving, something wet and crimson.

"Ah, look, here they are." Professor Kal said with a happy expression on his face, "And it appears that they brought something with them. I swear, I'm not a thief, here, you can have it back."

Drops of viscous blood spattered the ground as he offered the man's still beating heart back to him, holding it gingerly in his two hands. Like a marionette that has had its strings cut, the soldier crumpled to the ground. Looking down at him, Professor Kal shook his head before simply dropping the now motionless organ on the ground with a wet squelching sound.

Clicking his tongue, Professor Kal lambasted the dead soldier, "Sleeping on the job? My, my, it's so hard to find good help these days, isn't it?"

"What did you do!?" A terrified scream sounded out, but from where he stood, Professor Kal couldn't tell which soldier it had come from.

"I'll kill him!" Another cried out as he rushed in, brandishing his long sword in a two-handed overhead grip.

As the sharp piece of steel cut through the air, its honed surface reflected the flickering torchlight, becoming a fiery sword of righteous justice that was only mere inches away from carrying out its verdict. In a fluid motion, much too fast for any of the soldiers to see, Professor Kal stepped to the side, completely avoiding the executioner's blade. With his blade encountering no resistance, the soldier stumbled forward, leaving himself wide open to any counterattacks that could come his way.

With a clenched fist, Professor Kal hammered the back of the man's neck in the area between his helmet and his armor. The force of the blow was so great that not only was his spine shattered into innumerable fragments, but the man's head was also nearly separated from his body, only remaining attached due to the ligaments in the neck.

As this man's corpse crumpled atop the other, Professor Kal nimbly plucked the loose sword from the ground, wielding it with practiced hands. "It's been ages since I've used a sword. My instructor always said that I left him wanting, so I pray that you'll go easy on me."

Taking the initiative, Professor Kal moved first, running directly ahead, stabbing his sword forward. On the other end of his sudden strike, the soldier was only able to turn his body slightly in an attempt to avoid the blow, but unfortunately for him, only succeeded in changing the target from his heart to his lungs.

The man collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as he drowned in his own blood. Professor Kal flicked the blade in his hands, ridding it of some of the blood clinging to it. Another soldier stepped in, swinging his sword high, aiming to remove Professor Kal's head. Professor Kal moved to block the blow with his own blade, only for the attack to change course abruptly, now aiming for his sword arm.

He couldn't help but commend this man's skill. In reality, it wasn't anything to brag about, but compared to what he'd seen so far from the soldiers, it was as if this man was a savant with the sword. With a small adjustment to his posture, he managed to block the attack, the blade screamed in his hand as a flash of sparks showered the two of them.

Without any hesitation, the soldier recovered from his failed attempt and struck again, this time with his boot as he kicked out toward Professor Kal's unguarded abdomen. With a gleam in his eye, Professor Kal grabbed ahold of the man's leg with his free hand, and in a show of herculean strength, he used the man as a club, bludgeoning another soldier who had wondered too close to their duel.

The remaining soldiers were horrified as they witnessed the body of one of their own used as a grisly club, being smashed again and again into the body of another. The sounds of the man's insides liquifying were appalling, causing several of them to lose control of their bodies, collapsing to the ground and evacuating the contents of their stomachs.

Professor Kal only ceased beating them together when the man's leg became detached from his body, his hip joint no longer being able to bear the abuse. Tossing aside the bleeding limb, Professor Kal eyed the remaining soldiers. There were only four left, two were on their hands and knees, retching, uncontrollable tremors assaulting their bodies. The other two were looking at him wide eyed, but still well within their senses.

The one furthest away reached into a pouch that was securely tied around his waist, he fumbled about inside the bag before pulling out a whistle that Professor Kal was certain would be used to call for reinforcements. Although it would be fun to have more playmates to test his newly acquired body on, he knew that he really should refrain from causing too much of a scene.

With a flick of his arm, he sent the long sword he was holding tumbling through the air, end over end. Before the soldier could put the whistle to his lips, the hilt of the flying sword struck him square in the head, crushing his face. The sword clattered to the ground, the soldier quickly following behind it. Professor Kal took leisurely steps forward, closing the distance between him and the last remaining soldiers.

He stopped just shy of the two on the ground, looking down on them with a face full of disgust. As he started to walk again, Professor Kal conjured two earthen spikes that erupted from the ground and pierced the two men's hearts.

"P… please… have mercy!" The last man whimpered, falling to his knees and begging for his life.

With a sneer on his face, Professor Kal reached out with his hand and placed the tip of his index finger on the middle of his forehead. The instant his finger touched the man's skin, his eyes glazed over, his cries of mercy fell silent, and the pleading expression riddling his face was replaced by a vacant stare.

"Your will was as weak as your body." Professor Kal grumbled as he pulled his hand away, "Then again, what can I expect from someone who pisses themselves."

As he distanced himself from the still kneeling man with a warm puddle just beneath him, he looked around at the mess encircling them. He was happy to see that even with the flood of lost memories resurfacing, that he was still just as decisive as ever. It wouldn't do him any good if he suddenly found his conscience and was unable to do what was necessary when the moment called for it.

Prodding one of the bodies with the toe of his boot, he addressed the blankly staring man, "Collect everything of value, I'm in need of some coin. Wait for me nearby, and if any of your friends wonder through, tell them one of those monsters attacked."

As Professor Kal put his back to the gory scene, the soldier stood with those instructions and started to thoroughly search each of his comrades' bodies, pocketing anything that seemed of worth. All the while, his face remained vacant and his eyes hollow and dim.