Book One – Interlude – Part Three – Servi’s Nightly Stroll II – Attack on the Markets

Following Arm’s direction, a particular girl soon found herself in the vicinity of the slave market. Servi had been walking around with the wooden emblem in her hand for fifteen minutes. Not a single person had come to ask her for the password.

“Itarr, is it possible for you to detect people?”

I cannot do that. I'm sorry.

“I see… I want to attack, but Arm didn't tell me where they dug the tunnel. I don’t know where to take the slaves.”

I see. Why not call out the password while you’re walking?

“Good idea.”

Servi did just that. She walked up and down the three streets closest to the market and half-yelled and half-whispered the password. As she made her third rotation, a Dwarf appeared in front of her. Short and stout with a war hammer on his back, he walked to Servi with a finger over his mouth.

“Shh, lass, ye tryin’ to give the plan away?!” he said.

"You know this?” Servi showed the emblem to the Dwarf, and he nodded.

“Aye. I won’t ask how or why ye have it, but that wooden badge means yer a friend of ours. Follow me,” the Dwarf turned around, and Servi followed him through a back alley which eventually led into a decrepit building with a ruined roof that conveniently overlooked the market.

Walking up the stairs, the Dwarf introduced himself.

“The name’s Lurrgy. Ye know what yer gettin’ into?”

“Call me Blue.  And yes, I do. I met two Earth Elves who said they were gonna attack three slave markets. They asked me for help, and I agreed.”

Lurrgy stopped moving and turned around, his brown eyes wide open.

“Those hard asses really asked ye for help?!”

Servi was a bit taken back. “Yeah..? The Earth Elf attacked me at first, but we came to an understanding.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. Ye must be far stronger than ye look,” he turned around, and Servi kept following him. A minute or two later, Lurrgy stopped in front of the door and knocked. Someone replied with a knock, and Lurrgy hit it again, this time in a pattern. Servi heard a click, and the door swung open. She followed the Dwarf as he stepped through first.

It was a large room with no furniture or anything of the like. Open and empty, a few people sat inside on the floor while a tall Koena paced himself back and forth.

“Lurrgy!” the Koena said as he ran to the dwarf. He took a glance at Servi. “Is this the idiot who almost gave away our plan?!”

“Look, I was walking for like ten minutes with that stupid badge out, and nobody came to me,” Servi replied, anger in her voice.

“That’s not it. We don’t need the help of a human when it’s your fault our brothers are in this situation,” he said, stepping closer. Before they were too close, Lurrgy stepped in between them.

“Calm down, Kire, Blue here is gonna help us. She’s strong.”

“You might want to listen to Lurrgy. I’m pretty strong. If what that Earth Elf said is correct, there’s bound to fifty or so guards here. You need all the help you can get.”

“Shit, just like a human to act so full of themselves. Well, I don’t think you’re so tough, so why don’t you leave?” Kire turned around. The moon looked like pears after being reflected in his scaly body. He had no weapons, so Servi guessed he used his fists in battle.

Lurrgy moved in front of him and begged him to reconsider, but Kire simply shook his head no.

“Sorry, but no. Seeing Seka and Seko whimpering and afraid was enough. I’m not leaving until I destroy these shitty markets," Servi said. She stood her ground, crossing her arms and staring at the Koena.

Feeling a sudden urge, Servi activated Soul Essence of Primal Combat a moment before Kire turned around and threw a punch.

“Too easy,” she said while reading the afterimages and dodging a flurry of attacks. To an outsider, it was like she saw the future and knew what Kire was going to do before he did.

“Kire! Stop it, you fool! She had an em—GAHH!” Kire was frozen in his tracks by a sudden scream. Forgetting about Servi entirely, Kire turned his back and rushed towards the voice.

A female Koena with purple scales sat propped against a wall. Her arm was in a cast, and when she tried to stop Kire, she hit it against something.

“Damnit, Rie, why’d you move your arm?!” Kire crouched down and carefully examined the injury.

Servi walked up to Rie and put her finger to the cast. Like with Seka, Servi and Itarr used a bunch of stacks of Remedium to heal the arm. White light flowed and danced around the crude bandage before disappearing inside. The sudden light and the sheer audacity of someone touching his loved one sent Kire into a fearsome rage.

“GET AWAY FROM H—”

“Quiet. Let me work. Thanks, Itarr.” Servi said as Kire slowly floated away.

You’re most welcome. My goodness, Telekinesis is quite useful, isn’t it?”

“MMMMMPMMMMPMMMMM!!!” not even a raged out Koena could break through Servi’s Telekinesis.

Ignoring him, Servi talked to Itarr and her patient. “Yeah, it is. Anyway, how does it feel? The pain should be gone.”

The purple scaled Koena stared blankly at this smooth-skinned human girl who helped her and slowly lifted her arm.

“There’s no pain..?” she slowly said. Using her other hand, she undid the cast using a Koena’s impressive strength.

“The scales are healed?!! It's like they were never broke!” Rie used a careful finger to trace the scales that were a slightly different shade of purple.

“I don’t know much about Koena. Let me know if there’s any pain,” Servi brought the floating Koena down to her level and spoke to him.

“Thank you so very much!” Rie replied.

“Look, I’m gonna let you go. You promise not to attack me?” Servi said.

Kire tried to say something but nodded when he couldn’t form the words.

“Rie?!” The moment she undid the skill, Kire rushed over to Rie and hugged her, burying his head in her chest.

“Calm down... I’m fine.”

“I’m just so glad…” Kire whimpered, softly sobbing and doing the opposite of what Servi expected.

“Oh, you…” Rie returned the hug and pulled back far enough to lightly peck Kire on his scaley lips.

They stopped hugging and stood up, hand in hand, while facing Servi.

“And you….I’m not going to thank a Human for something their kind did. And if you get in trouble during the attack, I’m not going to help you.”

“Kire! Be nicer!” barked Rie.

“I’m sorry, Rie, but I can’t. And you know why,” Kire walked off to a window and looked down at the area below. From here, he had a perfect bird’s-eye view of the market in its entirety.

It was large, spanning the equivalent of five city blocks, both length and width wise. It was like a snake and funnel had fused together. The entrance was long and wide but became narrow. Guards with silver armor patrolled regularly and often had three to a patrol unit. Wretched, rusty cages filled the area he saw. No doubt these were the places where the slaves would be put on display, further degrading them.

“Look. You can help with the raid. We’ll be starting as soon as the advance team gets back. If you have anything to ask, now’s the time.”

Servi walked over beside him and glanced out the same window.

“Where are the other two markets? After I finish here, I need to go help them.”

“Why? The cousins should have those under control.”

“They would, but when I ran into them, they had two Singi slaves they had to escort to the tunnel. Quick question, what are you going to do about the bracelets?”

Kire sighed. “The best we can. Those things are almost impossible to tamper with, but they have a range of 568 meters. If we can just get them out of town, then there’s no risk of their Slavemaster blowing them up.”

“I can take them off.” Servi took out a sword from her ring and held it.

“You need to stop lying.” He said.

“Kire, be nice and turn around!” Rie ordered.

He did as he was told and saw a single sword gently gripped by Servi's palm. A second later, it vanished from existence, only reappearing two meters behind Servi. Two seconds after that, the sword disappeared and showed up in front of Kire's eyes.

“I can remove objects from existence and bring them back. Surely you can put two and two together,” Servi said while absorbing the floating weapon.

That’s not….ah, I get it. You’re lying to them.

“What sort of skill is this?”

“Can’t tell you.”

“Who is this Itarr that you thanked earlier?”

“Can’t tell you that either.”

“How did you heal her arm?”

“I used Remedium.”

“Impossible,” Kire scoffed, “that low-rank healing skill can not bring back the scales of a Koena.”

“That’s the truth. Take it or leave it.”

“Then tell me your name.”

“Blue,” Servi said, pointing to her eyes.

“Come on, Kire, don’t interrogate the girl. The boss gave her the emblem.” Lurrgy came walking over with two drinks in his hand. He offered one to Servi, who took it. She did think for a moment that it could’ve been poisoned but drunk it anyway. Toxins couldn’t kill her, so there was no need to be wary.

“Thanks,” she said, knocking it back and absorbing the cup after it was empty. She thought it must’ve been alcohol because it burned for a slight moment.

“Yer welcome,” he said as he chugged back his glass, letting out a small burb and a bit of a chuckle. Itarr told Servi to turn around. She did and saw Rie waving her over.

“Blue?” Rie asked when Servi got closer.

“Yeah?” Servi replied.

“Thank you again for healing my arm. And I’m sorry for Kire’s rude behavior. I hope you can look past it,” she had a slight frown on her face as if remembering a repressed tragic memory.

“I can read the atmosphere. Things are tense, and you’re about to launch an attack. I get it. I’m not mad or anything cause I know tempers can run high.”

“You’re very understanding for a Human,” the Koena replied.

At that moment, a knock came from the door in a particular pattern. Recognizing it, Lurrgy opened it. A group numbering five came in, consisting of Elves, Dwarfs, Singi, and Koena.

“Kire, we scouted around and found the stairs, but it’s heavily guarded,” an Earth Elf said. He glanced over and saw Rie and a strange Human. “How’d you heal her? And who’s the girl?”

“The Human did it. She has an emblem from the boss, and she wants to help in the attack,” he replied. A paradoxical tone was attached to his words. One half was of hatred and anger, and the other of acceptance and reluctance.

“Uhh...sure thing, Kire. Does she know the plan?”

“Blue, all of you! Come over!” Kire yelled. Everyone in the building corralled over to him. Including Servi, there were ten people.

“Here’s the plan. Hue, Haqi, and Ziq, you provide support and healing. Lurrgy, myself, Rie, and Blue here will sneak in. Llara, you go to the roof and cover us with arrows. Miu and Mii, you stay near the entrance and kill any who comes to investigate. Don’t use too much Skill Energy. You’re the ones who are gonna lead the slaves to the tunnel. You get that?”

They all nodded. Miu and Mii, a pair of Singi sisters, walked downstairs and pulled out their daggers.  They took a position beside the door leading out.

Llara, an Elf, went to a window and climbed up to the ruined roof. The debris around her offered the perfect protection from any passing eyes or arrows.

Hue, a Dwarf, Haqi, a Koena, and Ziq, a Singi, pulled out their weapons and waited for an order while thinking about what skills to use in the upcoming attack.

Lurrgy reached behind his back and pulled out his war hammer. Big and black, it looked like something a demon would have. The black spike that poked through the flat end practically emitted an ominous vibe.

“You two don’t use weapons?” Servi asked Kire and Rie, who were adjusting their armor.

“We do not. Do you?” Rie answered.

“I mainly use skills, but I guess I’ll use a sword.” Servi brought out a sword from her ring that didn’t have a scratch, and it fell gently in her outstretched hand.

“Woah, was that Dimensional Storage?! That’s a Rank 4 skill!” said Ziq, his tail cautiously moving around.

“Eh, it’s something like that." Servi shrugged as her weapon disappeared.

“Amazing. I never met a Rank 4 before. Can I shake your hand?!” Ziq walked up to Servi with his hand outstretched, but Kire stepped in front.

“We don’t have time for this shit. Get ready, both of you,” Feeling dejected, the Singi with the drooping tail scuttled back the other two members of the support team.

That was a bit mean of him.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Hey! Everyone to your positions. Rie, Lurrgy, Blue, on me!” Kire barked out as Servi sighed.

A few minutes later, Servi and the rest of the assault team were walking to the market's entrance. Two guards stood out front, and both were yawning.

“Alright, Blue, take them out,” Kire ordered.

“Sure.” Using Telekinesis, Servi yanked the two guards and forcibly flew them over to her.

Surprised, Rie asked why they aren’t making noise.

“I shut their mouths with Telekinesis. They can’t scream or beg for mercy. It’s quite fun, you know. Having a helpless foe right in front, squirming and praying for help that will never come. It’s the least they deserve for forcing children to live as slaves.” As Servi said that, Kire and Rie slowly backed away for a moment while Lurrgy silently laughed.

“That there’s a girl who ain't afraid to get down and dirty when the time comes. Kire, you could learn a bit from her,” said the Dwarf.

When the floating guards reached the assault team, Servi asked Kire what to do.

“Kill them. I wouldn't risk asking for information.”

“Alright,” Servi said before the two floating guards had their necks rotated so that their chins faced the sky. A moment later, the airborne corpses disappeared, leaving behind two souls that sparkled like fireflies.

Using Telekinesis required at least one anchor point to be created on an object. From that point, the user could grab onto it and manipulate the object using the point as a reference. By creating two points, one at the base of the neck and the other at the top of the head, Servi forced the top point left while forcing the bottom point to stay still. Human necks weren't the standard when measuring toughness and resilience, so it was easy to predict that they would break with just a little bit of force.

“What did you do?! Their bodies are gone?!”

“Don’t ask.”

Servi, I don’t want to keep interrupting you with the acquisition of new skills, so I’ll tell you later, okay?

“Yeah, that’s fine, Itarr. Thank you.”

“And who is this Itarr you keep talking to?!” Kire was getting angry. Really angry. A human was supposed to be the weakest of the races that could talk and communicate, but the slender girl in front of him had more strength than him. It was upsetting.

“I can’t tell you. All I can say is that this: Itarr is trustworthy.”

“Bullshit! If this Itarr can do all this, then why is she hiding?!”

Servi turned to Rie. “You better get him in line. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

“Kire, honey, just let her help us. We’re outnumbered five to one, and we need her. I trust her.  Lurrgy, do you?”

“Aye, that I do.  Blue hasn't done anything to make us suspicious, so let it go. Hell, if she wanted to kill us, then she would have done it already.”

“For the record, I don’t kill innocent people. Only those who attack me or the helpless will die by my hand. Since slaves fall under the latter, I’m quite happy to be doing this. Now are we gonna chat and shoot the shit, or are we gonna rescue the slaves?” Servi said, walking ahead. Now that the guards were gone, there was no point in wasting time.

“Shit… Fine, I’ll lead. You follow behind,” Kire begrudgingly said as he went to the front.

“Hold on, let me use Protection. I better use it multiple times.” Servi said as she used Skill Stack to apply it multiple times to the group.

“Aye? I thought Protection was one use only?”

“It is for regular people, but not for me. There are over fifty stacks of Protection on you three."

“Stacks?” Kire had a confusing look on his face.

“It means that it’s powerful. Much, much, much, more powerful than regular Protection.”

“I don’t really understand,” Rie said as she followed behind Kire, who was at the entrance. A gate blocked their way as the two Koena went to either side. Right before their hand touched the metal they were going to pry open, the gate just disappeared. A barely noticeable red light flowed from where it used to be to Servi’s ring.

“You’re welcome,” she said as she walked through the empty space that was previously occupied.

Kire jogged slightly and resumed his point as the lead. Though he was desperately wanted to say something, he couldn’t. Not while they were in enemy territory.

The outdoor market was a wide-open space with little to cover the sun or moon. That meant it was perfect for Llara to keep an eye on the entire market. A small green bird sat on her shoulder as she used her excellent eyesight to scan. When she saw an enemy, she would whisper it to the bird, and it would fly to Kire, who received the message.

“What’s that?” Servi asked when she saw it.

Lurrgy was the one to answer her in a silent voice.

“It’s a spirit that Llara summoned some time ago. It can carry voices from one place to the other. Very useful for situations like this.”

The spirit bird nodded, having delivered its message, and flew back to its master.

“Look, Llara says there are five groups of three guards that regularly patrol.” Kire crouched down and told the group what the bird told him. They were currently hiding behind a stack of boxes very near the entrance.  They hadn't made much progress at all.

He continued. “They don’t have any dogs or animals, so we’re good on that front. If Llara's info is correct, they should be coming up very soon, but we can’t wait. They’re sure to notice the missing gate and sound the alarm, so we have to make the first move. We need to kill them before they find it.” He specifically looked at Servi when he mentioned the gate.

“Like finding bent bars is any less suspicious,” the gate-stealer replied.

Ignoring her, Kire continued. “We’ll make our ways through the outside area and kill the guards we come across. Remember, we have to be stealthy. If any get away, Llara says she’ll shoot them before they can sound the alarm.”

“Right.”

“Aye.”

“Got it.”

Having decided on a plan, the four crouched along using the stack of tall boxes used as a shield. When Servi had a moment to herself, she used a dagger to cut a small hole and peeked inside. It was empty, but Servi could smell blood and waste.

“Those bastards used these boxes to move the slaves, but why?” she asked aloud. It was Rie who answered.

“There’s a high tax on legal slaves and no tax on illegal slaves. And since the owner of the market needs to go through the governor, they bring in slaves disguised as food or supplies. What happens is that the slavers bring them here in boxes, and the owner doesn’t report them. It’s a shady business.”

“I see,” Usually, Servi would absorb the boxes, but she didn’t want that filth in her ring.

Continuing to creep along, the group reached the end of their cover and had to go out in the open.

“Look right there,” Kire ordered Servi to peek around the boxes, and she saw a patrol. Three people were walking lazily and yawning. They were clearly not taking their job very seriously. “That’s the first group that Llara saw. When I give the signal, I want you, Lurrgy, and Rie to take them out, but do it silently.”

“Aye, that should be easy to do. I don't see any helmets, and their necks are unprotected.” Lurrgy used a skill, and a moment later, a blue rope was in his hands.

So he’s going to use that rope skill?

Rie, meanwhile, made a fist and cracked her knuckles.

“I’ll keep watch,” And with that, Kire gave the order for the attack. Even though they were facing them, the patrol unit froze at the sign of a Human, a Koena, and a Dwarf rushing them.

Servi stayed back while the two rushed forward. Lurrgy used his short height to approach low, jumping at the last minute to wrap his rope around his foe's neck. Lurrgy purposely tripped, and the Dwarf's weight was enough to snap his enemy’s neck instantly.

Rie used her race’s naturally superior strength to quickly strangle her opponent. Servi used Telekinesis to kill her enemy, a young human girl of about 17. She tried something new this time and used her skill to put pressure on the girl’s chest from two different sides. After seeing the pain on her face as four or five types of liquids escaped from every orifice, Servi couldn’t help but feel regret and sadness.

But that soon faded when she glanced to the right. Servi saw a metal cage covered in blood and rust. A small picture stood beside it, and it was of a small girl. Servi realized what it was for.

She couldn’t forgive anyone for working at such a monstrous place where lives were sold on the daily. Regardless of her thoughts, the young guard’s fate was imminent. Her chest couldn’t hold against the Telekinesis as a hole suddenly appeared next to her breast. The heart inside the young girl exploded.  She died instantly.

Servi absorbed the corpses and went back to Kire with the others.  To their surprise, they found him with his arms snug around the neck of an unfortunate bastard who tried to get the jump on Kire.

“Kire, what happened?” Rie asked as the guard finally died.

“He snuck up on me and tried to kill me, but when he swiped at me with the dagger, it bounced off.”

“That’s my Protection at work. If the attack is weak enough, it’ll just be deflected.”

“Yeah. Thanks, I guess. Regardless, that guy was able to get the drop on me, so we need to hurry.”

“Aye. That’s fine by me.”

“Sure. I gotta help out the other two, so the faster we get this done, the better,” Servi said while absorbing the would-be assassin's corpse.

Servi still had a long night ahead of her.