Arcane Innovator

With a quiet rumble, a small portion of the mighty city's wall in front of me crumbled. My lips curled into a smile as I turned over and whispered to Theo. "Bring everyone here. We're leaving."

He simply nodded and jogged over to where Vixen and the others were anxiously waiting.

Meanwhile, I hardened the surface of the new passage so that it wouldn't collapse on us and then carefully listened until I heard the sound of multiple pairs of subtle steps making their way toward me.

"Look! I managed to find it." I grinned at the others as they appeared over the corner of a dilapidated house that was pressed right against the walls, blocking the newly created tunnel from view.

"You did? Wait, there really was such a neat secret passage here? I thought you'd ask us to crawl through some disgusting sewer or something like that." Vixen said, visibly relieved.

"What do you take me for?" I replied, still grinning, before urging everyone to hurry to the other side.

I went in last, quickly raising the surrounding soil to block both entrances, effectively masking them.

'It would be a shame to destroy it given the amount of essence it cost me, and it might come in handy one day.' I reasoned as I hurried after my companions, who, by now, managed to make it quite a distance from the walls.

Then, under cover of night, our footsteps pounded against the earth as we ran across the serene countryside and away from Weisberg, eager to get as far away from the city as possible.

In the distance, I could hear echoes of Weisberg's resident's frantic shouts as the city was still reeling from the chaos caused by the inadvertent explosion in the Craftsman's district.

But as we continued to run, the sounds grew fainter and fainter until I couldn't hear anything anymore.

'We made it!' I rejoiced after I could no longer see the city's walls, which meant the guards posted on them couldn't see us either.

Thus, I signaled to the others to stop, allowing us a brief pause to catch our breath. Everyone beside me then promptly dropped to their buts, panting heavily.

I continuously circulated my essence throughout my body, replenishing my depleted energy so I wasn't anywhere as tired as the others.

I took advantage of that and decided to use this extra time to figure out where we would go from here.

So far, our only goal was to get out of the city as fast as we could before the guards would inevitably apprehend us, but I knew that we couldn't just run blindly into the woods like headless chickens, as that would be a sure recipe for disaster.

That's why I climbed a small hill nearby and took a look ahead. Stretching out before me was nothing but a flat open plain of the Weisberg's valley bathed in the moon's gentle glow, which then turned into thick, towering woods some distance away.

Still a little apprehensive about the possibility of pursuit by the city guards as there was no telling what Vincent might tell them, I returned to the others.

"Let's go a bit further. I saw a nice spot where we could make a camp." I said, urging them to continue, although now in a bit more relaxed manner compared to before.

It irked me that I couldn't finish Vincent off together with Dominic, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

'Well, it doesn't matter...' I thought while walking. I thoroughly hindered his operation and killed most of the gang members. It will take him months, maybe even years, to pose a serious threat again. And hopefully, by then, I will be strong enough to not have to worry about such trivial matters.

The only issue was that Vincent saw my real strength, so if we were to meet again, there was a real possibility that he'd prepare some serious countermeasures against my magic, but that was a future me problem.

Not that there was much he could do about it in the first place... He wasn't a mage, nor had any substantial fighting skills, given the fact he ran at the first sight of trouble. All he could possibly do was get his hands on some potent magical items or hire even stronger guards than Dominic, and that was something I could easily handle.

'Well, enough about this. It seems we are finally here...' As I looked around, we arrived at the area where we had previously met with Master Finn before we went to gather herbs a few days prior.

It was a nice open clearing a short distance from the main highway but hidden enough so that those traveling on it wouldn't be able to see all the way there.

"Alright, we should make a camp here," I said to great relief from everyone as apart from Ram and Vixen, the rest of us spent many harrowing hours running all over the city, rendering us extremely exhausted.

That's why I gladly accepted Ram's offer to take the first watch as I, together with Theo and the kids, plopped down into our meager, makeshift beds made out of our moss and our folded coats, dozing off almost instantly.

When I woke up the following morning, my senses were immediately assaulted by an enticing aroma that made me drool. 'Huh?' I dazedly looked around, noticing that the sun was already quite high in the sky. 'How long have I been sleeping for?'

Anxious, I quickly sprung up to my feet only to be met with a smirking Vixen's face, who was just about finished roasting a delicious-looking rabbit. "Hey there, sleepyhead. Would you like some breakfast?"

"Ehhh, I guess so?" I blinked in confusion, struggling to come up with a suitable reply. 'I must have been more tired than I realized...' I thought, but before I managed to ask what time it was, the rest of our party came running.

"Yay, rabbit!" Greta jumped around in joy as everyone quickly began participating in this unexpected feast.

Seeing my confused expression, Ram happily chimed in. "I caught it during my watch last night... This little bugger gave me quite a scare, haha!"

"Good catch..." I nodded, accepting my portion from Vixen before I began greedily devouring it alongside everyone else.

We didn't talk much since all of us were still trying to process the crazy events from the last night, but everyone knew we had to put some more distance from the city first before we could relax our guard.

So, after the late breakfast, we packed our little camp, not that there was much to pack anyway, and headed back into the woods.

Guided by my magic sense, we successfully avoided each and every hunting or gathering party we came across long before they had a chance to spot us.

During our walk, I stuck close to Theo, and in a low voice, I caught him up to speed with everything that had happened since that ill-fated night of his kidnapping and my escape from Ereneth.

After I was done, I turned toward him and asked matter-of-factly. "So what do you plan to do now? Return to Ereneth?"

I knew very well that Theo wasn't cut out for the life of a beast hunter. It would also be a colossal waste of his Alchemical talent.

So the ideal solution would be for him and the kids to hunker down somewhere safe to be free of all this drama and have a chance to rebuild their upturned lives.

He looked at me confusedly. "I don't know, to be honest... I'm still trying to come to terms with being free of that unseemly cage they kept me in and didn't really think much about what comes next."

He then grimaced, saying, "But one thing I know for certain. Nothing is waiting for me back in Ereneth. My father still hates me for getting on bad terms with the Guild, and without our workshop, there is no way for me to make a living there."

"Well, give it some thought as we need to figure out what to do next..." I replied before I left him to his own thoughts and went on to discuss with Ram and Vixen where we should head next.

As the sun began its descent towards the horizon, we soldiered on through the forest and soon arrived at a quaint town nestled between the bustling main highway and a serene lake that reflected the sky's vibrant colors. The town was situated at the mouth of the Weisberg Valley, surrounded by lush green hills and forests.

Exhausted from our journey, we eagerly checked into a nice-looking travel inn. Our tired bodies rejoiced at the thought of finally sleeping in a proper bed once again.

At dinner, I could see Theo looking thoughtful, not talking much. So, afterward, I took him aside and asked what was bothering him.

"You know, I gave some thought to what you said and have decided to try my luck in the Capital. My aunt lives there, and with all those silver coins we managed to seize from the criminals, I want to try to open up my own Alchemy shop there."

"That's a great idea!" I encouraged him. Previously, I declared that Theo and the kids should keep all the silver they looted from Vincent's chest as I had plenty of money of my own and didn't really need it all.

This will also give them a nice safety net so they won't have to worry about where their next meal will come in for a very long time.

"What about you?" Theo suddenly asked, taking me by surprise.

"Well, you know where my true passion lies..." I chuckled.

"I guess so..." He nodded with a knowing smile before asking. "And what about Hans and Greta?"

"I was wondering if you could perhaps take them to the Capital... It was me who hired them, but as it seems they took quite a liking to you, and I feel I wouldn't be able to take good care of them going forward." I reasoned.

"You sure?" Theo asked for confirmation, tilting his head a little.

"Yea..." I nodded. I had a long journey ahead of me, and it was not a suitable environment for a pair of young kids to grow up in.

"Alright, then, I guess it's time to part ways..." Theo said in the end, a wistful smile playing on his lips.