PreCursive

  Things were ging in Elderwyck.

  For both the city, and us.

  The General in charge of the Loyalist forces iy had wised up to the fact that his soldiers were being targeted. At this point in time, our intelligeold us that he wasn’t quite sure who was itting the attacks on his men, but holy? It wouldn’t be long.

  It’s not like there were any e fas that the Kingdom of Herztal was currently at war with.

  In respoo the sabotage and attacks, General Atticus Longstripe of the Loyalist forces had ged tactics. The guard forces of Elderwyck were still being reinforced by Herztalian soldiers, but they weren’t essentially w on a buddy system anymore. No, they were moving in squads now. It wasn’t unon to see groups of five or more paranoid Loyalist soldiers stalking dowreets of Elderwyck at all hours of the day, led by exasperated guards. They weren’t even b with being unobtrusive anymore.

  It really felt like the entire garrison was beiied to increase patrols. It seemed every sireet iy had soldiers stalking down it, watg everyohey could. But that wasn’t the only thing they were doing. No, these roving groups of soldiers had started doing door to door searches. Duke Olsen had given General Longstripe carte bo bust down as many doors as he wanted, in the search for whoever erating against him within the walls of Elderwyck.

  As you imagihis wasly sitting well with the citizenry. In their search for us, the soldiers had started harassing people we had nothing to do with. More than one door had been ht broken down by overzealous squads, disrupting the business of i shop owners.

  I’d actually seen one of these firsthand.

  Earlier today, one of these search squads had barged into a distressed Jason’s shop and started asking the shopkeeper pointed questions. They’d dragged me out of my little brewing closet and forcibly sat me dowo Jason in the same ba I’d spoken to Rhiannon in. I hadn’t resisted, of course. My cover here was just too valuable and airtight to risk a pointless frontation with the guards and their Loyalist minders.

  The squad had rifled through the crates, ste, and shelves of the shop, obviously finding nothing. I don't even know what they were looking for. I was careful not to store anythihat could implicate me in the campaign against the Loyalists in Elderwyck. The only thing that had been on me had been one of my daggers, which was easy enough to expin.

  After all, it was just a hand me down from my old grandad to protect myself. He’d been an adventurer, you see, and had owned pretty sweet ons in his time. You could never be too careful out oreets these days, you know, and say? Would you boys like a free sample from our new line of stamina potions? I’m sure it’s tiring work searg for those nasty saboteurs. You could use a pick me up!

  Hah.

  Turned out, soldiers and guards were pretty easy to bribe. I guess the stereotype existed for a reason.

  After that, we hadn’t gotten any trouble from the guards or the Loyalists. On the trary, we’d gotten some new ers.

  The problem for the Loyalists, though, was that we khey were doing these searches. And while they might catch us if we were off guard, it’s not like we weren’t watg for them or had ways to know they were ing. Turns out, there were a good amount of maltents in the guard force who weren’t too happy about the state of things. When approached in a circumspect mahey’d agreed to being paid for the trouble of dropping off information at certain locatiurly. This had e in handy pretty quickly. We’d had to abandocher’s shop in a hurry after one of our informants had told us that it was due to be searched. By the time that Loyalist squad had showed up at Fred’s door, we’d already cleared out a no trace behind.

  Currently, our Elderwy base of operations was holed up in the basement of an old fishing warehouse. My uanding was that it was currently abandoned, ever sihe previous owner had been killed in a motack out at sea. But this wasn’t even our only active safehouse iy. It was just our most used one, right now.

  God was the smell in here horrendous. The st of years of rotting fish guts didn’t just wash away, no matter how much you scrubbed. Believe me, I’d tried. Hell, not even sc the walls with Aetherial Melding had worked to dispel the fishy st down here. I had no idea what that was about.

  I’d had plenty of time retly to burn the st of years old fish into my nostrils. After Rhiannon’s little stunt, I’d been pulled from the duty roster to wait for more tact from the mysterious woman. It’d been three days now, and I hadn’t heard a word from her. It was a bit odd, sidering how she apparently had access to a courier service. But so far, nothing.

  In the meantime, I’d taken Hook’s advice to resume my training. The spymaster himself was too busy to help me with it, so I’d taken to badgering whatever Agent checked in to get some on practice done. I hadn’t fotten Hook’s advice those weeks ago to aim for the General ons Proficy Talent. I just hadn’t had the time to devote to pursuing it.

  After some sideration, I’d settled on the seven ons that I was going to shoot for that would tribute to the Talent fusion. Those being Spear, Knife, Longsword, Short Bow, Long Bow, Throwing, and Stave. My inal two had been Spear and Knife Proficy, which I had maxed out just through regur usage. In the short amount of time that I’d gotten structured training after joining the Division, and before shit had hit the fan, I’d picked up Longsword and Short Bow Proficy. Both of which were still only at level one. I just wasn’t really fortable enough with those oo be out using them in the field.

  But now that I had a bit of dowo dedicate to training, I’d decided to at least pick up the st three I’d decided on. That being Longbow, Throwing, and Stave. Siwo of those were ranged ons and could be reasonably practiy own with only a little bit of instru, I was currently bugging ents to spar with me using a spare stave we’d had lying about.

  It was going about as well as expected.

  I’d discovered that Crook, the outspoke from the other day, was actually fairly experienced in using the on and asked for a few pointers from her.

  I was questioning that decision now.

  I grunted, blog an overhead blow from the nimble woman. I had to rapidly shift my length of wood to block a sweep from the bottom half of Crook’s own stave moments ter, as she tried to take my legs out from under me. The Agent was so skilled and so qui using this type of on, though, that even that was feint from her move.

  I wasn't prepared for her to use the actual crook that she had at the top of her personal on to yank mi of my hands. Moments ter, I was knocked off my feet from a hard hit to the ter of my chest.

  Blinking, I stared up at the ceiling of the warehouse. This might just have beeenth time Crook had disarmed and id me out.

  I groaned, c my eyes with my hand.

  The light from the evening sun shining through the high windows of the warehouse was shadowed over me. Removing my hand, I found Crook standing over me leaning on her bat stave.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be a spear user?” She asked doubtfully. “Shouldn’t you be more used to handling a long on by now?”

  I took a deep breath and leveraged myself back upright. “Ah…sort of,” I said tiredly. We’d been going at this for some time now, and I was starting to get worn out. “What I use is really more of a bination on.”

  “bination on,” Crook said ftly. She shook her head. “Whatever. I think that’s enough for now. Si’s not that hard to pick up a Proficy, you should have gotten it by now.”

  Probably. I hadn’t checked my Status since we’d started sparring.

  I did so now, fog on Hidden Amidst the Spheres.

  You have gaihe General Talent, Stave Proficy!Stave Proficy has reached level 1!Ag has reached level 6!Yup, there it was. Number six out of the seven on Proficies that I o max, in order to fuse General on Proficy. A bit odd that I’d picked up another level in Ag, though. I didn’t think I’d been doing anything during this practice that would tribute to that Talent. But, this was the first time I’d checked my Status today, and that raid on Jason’s store had been this m before I’d finished my shift. I’m betting the level had e from that. I was curious, though. I hadn’t checked my whole Talents in some time.

  Shuffling past my main Status s, I pulled up the Talent pane.

  General TalentsAg Lvl. 6Dual Wielding Lvl. 3Knife Proficy Lvl. 7 (Max)Longsword Proficy Lvl. 1Short Bow Proficy Lvl. 1Spear Proficy Lv. 7 (Max)Stealth Lvl. 7 (Max)Stave Proficy Lvl. 1Throwing Proficy Lvl. 1Trag Lvl. 4Css TalentsLeafwhisper Step (Unon)Lifeblood Sense (Superied Mind (Rare)ing along just fine, if I say so myself.

  I refocused ba Crook and ined my masked head to her. We weren’t always required to be masked inside our safehouses, but most people had been opting for it ever sihe raids had started. You never knew when you were going to o clear out in a hurry. “Yeah, that did it. I got the Talent. Thanks, Crook.”

  The ent made an aowledging sound, her on disappearing…somewhere. Probably a ste or cealment Skill of some kind. “It’s fine. But, if you want to be using a stave in bat, yoing to need quite a bit more practice.”

  I snorted. “You’re telling me. I’ll see you ter.” I said to the woman, my eyes drifting to the sky beyond the high windows.

  “Have somewhere to be?” Crook asked idly.

  I smiled slightly behind my mask. “Yeah, actually. I heard a friend is getting bato town today. I’m going to go find him with someone else.”

  I’d be ied to see how he’d been doing, siting up shop in Elderwyck. After all, Healers were in high demand these days.

  ……………………………………..

  After pig up Sylvia from her shift at the stationary store, the two of us navigated our way toward the main gate of the city. There, we found it to be mostly abandoned. After all, there wasn’t much overnd erce making its way into the city these days, and it’s not like the guards were keen to let in a bunch ees from the Stacks.

  That made it extremely easy to see the few people that were in the pza just past the gates.

  Such as a returning merd being debriefed by the guards there. Including one familiar Gnoll, dressed in dirt and blood stained Healers robes.

  Renauld.

  One of the first things I’d done when I had inally gotten ihe walls of Elderwyck had been to ask around about the Gnoll. It wasn’t even suspicious, as plenty of other ret entrants into the city were known to inquire after friends and loved ones who might have gotten io the safety of the walls. What I’d learned was that the Gnoll and the band of Order soldiers had made it to Elderwy one piece about a week before we had, and then cajoled their way ihis had been before the situation out iacks had gotten so bad that the Guard was ordered to bar all further entrance. Once here, the group had registered as an adventuring merary group with the city and started to take issions. We’d only missed the group by a few days, as shortly before we’d gotten in through the catabs, they’d departed beyond the walls on a job.

  But now they were back.

  He looked exhausted, I noticed. Renauld’s normally pristine bd white fur was matted with sweat, while the Gnoll himself was nearly drooping in pce. I hadn’t mao find out what the job he’d taken had been, but it must have been a rough one.

  For a moment I debated leaving him be to recover. I could always find him tomorrow. But that choice was taken when Renauld noticed me and the disguised Sylvia standing off to the side and watg him.

  He immediately perked up, reizing me. I wasn't really very disguised, after all. He nudged one of the other undercover Order members and pointed my way. The man looked at me and raised an eyebrow in surprise. They had a brief exge of words before Renauld started walking over to me. I met the other man’s eyes over top of the approag Gnoll’s head.

  He me in aowledgment. I retur, before fog ba Renauld.

  He gri me as he got closer. “You made it!” He said in a tired, yet cheerful tone. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

  I returhe smile. “Oh, it took us lohan you,” I said, aware that our reunion had drawention of the guards, now watg us curiously. “But the two of us made it in one piece.” I gestured to Sylvia and I, causing Renauld to look at her curiously. After a moment, uanding hit him and he gri her as well.

  Sylvia winked one huma the Gnoll.

  I wasn’t sure what to call him. But, if it had worked o would wain.

  I drew the surprised Gnoll into a hug, which he returned awkwardly. “Hans and thia,” I said quietly, into his furry ear.

  He got the idea. “Louis,” He whispered into my own.

  I drew back. “Why don’t we all go catch up over dinner, Louis? I’m sure we both have some stories to tell the other.”

  “Sounds good to me,” He replied easily. “I already told my Captain I’d be busy for the rest of the night.” He met my eyes. “And sure. I have some ‘stories’ to tell.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find them iing.”