Inexorable Chaos

It takes a good half hour before the fighting in the guild dies down to a crawl. The previously loud yelling, screaming, and the breaking of bones is now but a lull. Currently, maybe only a dozen people are still fighting, a far more favorable number for the [Mageguard Captain] to deal with.

“Alright, men, dismount. Looks about time to smack some heads.”

Ophelius gets off his horse, his [Guards] do the same. He then looks at Jessica who is getting off of her own vehicle.

“[Priestess], it may be safer for you to wait outside while we deescalate the situation.”

Jessica shakes her head. “I told you before, I serve Eir. It is my duty to heal those wounded.”

“That’s not what I meant. Your healing skills may be helpful, but allow me and my men to make sure the guild is safe before you enter.”

“I can handle myself,” Jessica reassures him, “I’m not defenseless.”

Ophelius considers for a moment, and then nods at the woman he has been talking with for the past half hour. She has been through a lot in her life, from working at a monastery that was a borderline brothel to being sold as a slave for over a year. Ophelius can adamantly say that the girl has a lot of will to her. Going through all that would break many people, but she’s come out stronger.

“Alright, but I want you to stick behind me and the [Guards].”

Jessica nods in response. Ophelius turns and enters the guild. His men follow behind him.

As the group cautiously enters the guild, the smell of beer and blood wash over them. Broken bottles lay everywhere on the floor alongside the broken remains of furniture and bodies. Lot’s of bodies. It’s clear to Ophelius that three major mercenary teams, maybe more, were involved in this brawl.

Taking a longer look at the clothing and marks of those on the ground, that number has just arisen to six. Over two hundred bodies litter the floor, a high count even for the guild.

His gaze shifts away from the floor and then lands on those still in the midst of combat. Seven bloody men with low stamina are trading punches. Of those seven, Ophelius finds the [Necromancer] breathing hard while covered in blood both his and others. A smile can be seen on his face as he punches someone in the face, only for another to elbow him in the ribs.

“How is he still standing?” one of his [Guards] asks the obvious question. A [Necromancer] should not be able to fight a [Warrior], much less, a trained [Mercenary].

“Because he’s got some fucking tough bones.”

Eyes shift towards a man sitting near the entrance to the guild. His face is bruised and bloody while he stares at the fight continuing on.

Ophelius looks at the man, finding his armor to be of very good enchanted quality. ”Who are you?”

The man smiles, revealing several missing teeth. “Name’s Gen, [Elite Cavalry Captain] and leader of the Duskriders.”

Gen lifts his severely mangled right hand in a friendly wave.

“Thor’s bloody hammer, what happened to your hand?” Ophelius yells in shock. Gen’s hand looks as though someone took a hammer to it. Bones are visible, blood is leaking, and the fingers are pointing in several wrong directions.

Gen smacks his lips and then points at the [Necromancer]. “I jumped off a table and then punched him in the face. His face kinda broke my hand.”

“What? Really? Are you sure you didn’t hit armor?”

Gen frowns from the pain. He then points once again at the [Necromancer]. One of the [Mercenaries] twisted his arm and punched the [Necromancer] in the head. He then pulls back his fist and howls in pain.

“I’m not the only one. A lot of people have broken bones from hitting him. You look like you know him, mind telling me who he is?”

Ophelius opens his mouth and then closes it. He actually doesn’t know his name.

“Bone.” Jessica answers the question as she forces her way past the [Guards]. Her gaze falls on Gen and his mangled hand. She snorts, already figuring out what happened.

“With a name like that, it’s pretty obvious how he got it.” Gen shakes his head. He looks at his hand.

“I don’t suppose we have any high level [Healers] in the city? I’m going to need someone with good experience at fixing this wound. I doubt a potion would work.”

Ophelius frowns “You’re going to need to go to Camelot for that type of wound. Only a [Bonemender] would be able to properly fix it.”

“Damn.” Gen frowns.

“I can [Heal] your hand if you would like. I’ve mended far worse than what you have.”

All eyes turn to Jessica who looks at the wound like a [Butcher] looks at meat.

Gen waves his mangled hand, causing blood and bone to shift. The [Guards] are disgusted, but Jessica’s expression remains neutral.

“Well, fuck it. Go ahead and try. Can’t be much worse than what I have right now.”

Jessica nods at his words and steps up to Gen.

Before anyone can react, she grabs Gen’s arm, shoves it away, and then moves her legs around his body, pinning him against his chairso that his movement is restricted.

“What?” Gen dumbly asks, but Jessica ignores him as she straightens out his injured hand.

“[Reconfigure Skeleton], [Flesh Shaping], [Grand Heal].”

Her mana releases from her body and enters the man’s hand. Gen begins to scream and howl as bone and flesh move. He attempts to push her off, but her entire body has him in an leglock that severely restricts his movements. He screams for half a minute while his bones twist through his muscle shift into place. Then his flesh moves to cover the bones before the rather instantaneous healing finishes.

Once done, she gets off of Gen who’s panting and sweating. His eyes look into Jessica’s. He shudders at her smile.

Jessica, done repairing the man’s hand, looks around her. The fighting has stopped. All eyes are now on her. Gen’s screams broke through the din and seized their attention. Quasi is happily sitting at a table extending a bloody hand with a thumbs up.

________________________________________

The [Guildmaster] of the Mercenary Guild slowly trudges down the stairs. Down she descends, Tip, Tap, Thump, her two feet and staff producing a distinct series of sounds. If she was in her prime, she would have broken up the fight and cracked some heads, but alas, her body could no longer keep up.

Thus, the [Quake-Staff Elite Mercenary] is relegated to cleaning up after fistfights and dealing with those responsible for starting them.

As she gets to the floor, she finds that the [Guards] have already arrived and have arrested several people.

“Ophelius.” She smiles. “Thank you for coming.”

The [Captain] smiles at the dark-skinned elder. “[Guildmistress] Bo-Chenh, it’s the duty of the [Guards] to maintain order and offer assistance when needed.”

“Yes, but I still feel responsible for all of this.”

The [Captain] waves her off. “Every city with a Mercenary or Diver guild is going to have these kinds of fights. What’s important is that we properly deal with it when needed.”

The [Guildmistress] sighs as she looks at the people surrounded by the [Guards]. All of them look to be the [Captain]’s of the various mercenary groups… except for one.

“Where’s that idiot Domasus, and who is he?” She points at Bone.

Ophelius sighs. “ Well, Domasus is over there. A [Healer] of sorts is tending to his body.”

Bo-Chenh’s eyes widen when she sees Domasus. Sunken ribs sticking out of his body, legs bent in the wrong way, arms grounded flat. It is amazing that the man is even alive. “What happened to him? It looks like someone took a warhammer to his body.”

“Close… but it was a table-leg,” says Ophelius

“Hey!” Bone shouts, “He threw a table at me!”

“And then you beat him down with a table leg,” Ophelius says with a frown

“He deserved it!”

Ophelius shakes his head. “Why did you even need to join the brawl anyway?”

Bone shrugs. “It looked fun… Well, it was fun until the table happened. Then it became personal.”

Before Ophelius can say anything else, Gen begins to laugh. He can’t help it. Few join brawls that bloody for the fun of it, but this idiot did so anyways.

Bo-Chenh smiles. She might have done similar things when she was younger. “Well, hopefully, that [Abbess] can put him back together. For now, who started the fight?”

All eyes are now on the [Guildmistress], and then they move to Jessica and her glowing hands.

Bo-Chenh is confused. “What’s wrong?”

“[Abbess]. Did you say [Abbess]?” Gen asks in surprise, beating everyone else to it.

“Shit,” Quasi curses, realizing Jessica is not wearing her mask.

“Shit,” he curses again, realizing that he doesn’t have his mask and his hat.

Bo-Chenh looks at the confused expressions of all those around her. “What’s wrong? Didn’t you know she was an [Abbess]?”

Ophelius swallows hard. He presumed her to be a high-level [Priestess]. It had not occurred to him that she out-leveled everyone in the building. His train of thought changes back to the [Necromancer]. Now he is very confused. Why would an [Abbess] be with a [Necromancer]? How does someone even force an [Abbess] to be sold into slavery? Something seriously does not feel right about this whole situation.

“No, I couldn’t [Analyze] her earlier, nor the guy here.”

Bo-Chenh looks at Bone. She frowns, “My [Sovereign of Sights] isn’t telling me anything. Hmmm, what is your class young man, and what skill is it that lets you hide your status so perfectly.”

“That is a difficult question that I will refrain from answering. But if you must know, my class is something of a [Necromancer].”

Bo-Chenh looks to Ophelius.

“He was riding an undead. The Mana signature was connected to him.”

“I see. I’m guessing you are bringing him for registration I presume?”

“Yes [Guildmistress].”

“Good. I am curious as to his class, but we need to deal with this current problem. Gen, what happened? Who started the fight and why?”

Gen scratches the back of his head. “Well, you know that contract for [King] Enderan? The good-paying one to protect his children? Most of the [Captains] wanted it since it looks like a pretty easy job. Well, arguing became shouting, shouting became insults, and then we all started talking with our hands.”

“Domasus threw the first punch!” one of the other [Captains] quickly accuses.

Bo-Chenh rolls her eyes. “At this point, everyone is paying for damages,” she then looks to Bone, “as will you.

“But I didn’t start it!” Bone whines

She rolls her eyes. “Are you a child? You helped cause this damage, you’re going to help fix it.”

Before Bone can complain about the unfairness, he and everyone else is distracted by Domasus’s screams. It looks like the [Captain] had just woken up mid-healing.

Thankfully, Jessica had taken precautions. She had gone ahead and tied the man to a post while she dealt with the more complicated injuries across his body.

Everyone shudders as they see the bloodthirsty smile on her bloody face as she ignores the man’s futile screams.

________________________________________

“You and you, straighten that man’s leg. Old man, don’t even think about using [Heal] without properly straightening out his fingers. Are you trying to mess up his hand? Where the hell is my alcohol! We won’t have to use as much mana if he’s not infected.”

I smile as I watch Jessica take charge, her most hated skill doing its work. [Tyrant’s Authority], a skill that is commonly obtained by high-level [Tyrants], [Dictators], [Bandit Lords], and [Pirate Captains].

I chuckle as more [Healers] are brought in, only to be brought to heel by Jessica. With her levels and the strength of her aura, none could resist her orders. In less than ten minutes, she has organized the injured in rows from worst to least injured. She focuses on the worst injuries as the other [Healers] would be insufficient. With surgeon’s tools Quasi had made for her long ago, she deftly cuts open skin and sets the bone properly before she heals it.. Many of the [Healers] watch her technique with a mix of horror and disgust, but the smart ones keep watching, wanting to learn her technique and the way she works to avoid one of the largest hurdles to healing anyone.

It is widely known that the biggest drawbacks of both healing potions and weaker [Healers] is that bones and cartilage may not heal properly. A wound may be closed, but the leg can be unusable afterward or be left with permanent pains. It’s why knowledge of the skeleton is required to limit that effect.

“Miss, what are you doing to that man’s leg? He is not injured there,” the oldest [Healer] asks, only to get a look that could melt stone.

With a professional movement, she slices into a man’s leg and then rams her hand into the wound. The man screams and yells.

“[Guards], hold him down!”

The [Guards] comply. They too feel the fear.

Her hand moves before a bloodthirsty smile blooms on her lips. She grabs something and then pulls. She removes a knife head that had broken inside the man’s leg a long time ago. The [Mercenary] had probably used a potion and the wound had healed over it. She throws the knife piece to the side before gently, like a mother caring for her children, pours alcohol straight into the wound. The [Mercenary] screams loudly. She then cast [Grand Heal], causing the wound to close from the inside to the outside, pushing some of the liquid out.

“What is happening here!?”

Eyes turn to the entrance as a [Priest], nay, an [Archpriest], flanked by a cohort of [Priests] and [Priestesses], enters the guild and demands.

“Who’s that?” I ask Bo-Chenh on the counter. The old lady moves her eyes off her newly enchanted staff.

“Illidius Avros, [Archpriest] of Hygea. He is a cocky know-it-all twat. I’m surprised he even came to help.”

“There’s money to be made, though,” I argue. “Pretty sure money can move even the cockiest hearts.”

“Ha! The only [Priests] that leave their churches to [Heal] are those who worship the goddess Eir. No, Illidius here has an agenda. He probably came because of her.” She inclines her head in Jessica’s direction.

Jessica finishes her current patient and then looks to the horrified [Archpriest]. “Good, more help. I need you all to [Heal] the lightly wounded. I and the [Healers] will work with the worst here.”

Her words register through Illidius, causing the [Archpriests] face to redden.

“How dare you! I am the [Archpriest] of Hygea, and I refuse to let you lead me like some sort of co-”

“Shut up and help!” Jessica yells, her aura exploding with violence.

Illidius takes a step back in surprise, which only lasts a moment.

“I DO NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU!!” he bellows in reply.

I chuckle at the strength of his aura. His words are loud, but his influence is weak.

Jessica stops and turns her head for the first time. She raises her hand. “[Summon Greater Angel]:[Heavy Lancer Archetype].”

From in front of her hand, a portal opens and an angel accelerates out of it at speed.

The Angel towers over six feet and is covered in bulky golden armor. Four white wings spread out and halt the angel’s forward charge. The lance it is holding stops half an inch from the [Archpriests] neck.

“THEN LEAVE!”

The words send a shiver down my spine alongside an explosion of Aura that has a potency even I can feel. And if I can feel it…

The [Archpriest] falls to the floor unconscious. The [Priests] and [Priestesses] around him immediately turn and run away.

With the problem gone, Jessica gets back to working on the patients. Her summon now stands menacingly at the door, keeping away anyone who dares approach.

Bo-Chenh chuckles. “Well then, it’s been a long while since I’ve seen someone summon a [Greater Angel],” She then turns to me. “Do you know if she will be applying for Mercenary Certification? I can give her a rank one mithril card.”

“Mithril? Like, in the metal?”

“Yes. All members are issued an enchanted card based on their capability to serve as a license and rank within the guild.”

“I see. So, what types of cards are there?”

She tilts her head. “You don’t know?”

I shake my head.

She frowns, “Well, the rating system is only a year old, so I shouldn’t expect you to know.” She clears her throat,” Anyhow, the rating is based on metal, going from bonze, to Iron, steel, mithril, and finally adamantine. For teams, it goes from Copper, Silver, and then Gold.”

Her hand touches the enchanted markings on her staff, trailing the glowing veins I carved into it.

“Under each rank, you are assigned a number between one and nine. One being the worst and nine being the best at that given rank.”

“Right, so how good is Mithril?” I ask.

“Most people in Mithril have an advanced second-tier class and are over level one-hundred and fifty. A [Greater Angel] is as strong as these people, so her being able to summon one puts her at Mithril very easily. I would need to test her if she wants to be higher than mithril one. The same is said for you.”

I smile at her. “Oh, and where will you be testing me then?”

She stands. “In the arena, of course; but before that, I need to document you.”

She walks to the [Receptionist] and I follow behind her.

“Gladis, Bone here needs to be documented for a black card.”

“Black?” the receptionist asks, flicking her long hair to the side so that it does not restrict her eyesight.

“Yes, he is a [Necromancer] of some kind. Take him to the back and document him please.”

The [Receptionist] looks at me and then blushes. I give her a toothy smile and a wink.

Then she realizes the [Guildmistresses] words.

“[Necromancer]?”

Bo-Chenh nods.