"Acros, that's how you say it right? The name's Rose."
The woman with the hammer slapped me on the shoulder and gave me a beaming smile as she introduced herself.
"Oh, and over there is Mark."
She then pointed to a man who was struggling to push through the crowd as they returned to the guild. Looking at them both, I could roughly guess their purposes in their adventurer parties.
Rose was a fairly tall, rose beige toned woman, about 5'11, sporting dark red hair and strange golden eyes that circulated mana in an intriguing manner. She was clad in light bronze amour and was wielding a long handled hammer and buckler. She had a couple of pouches likely containing medicine and other assorted amenities, but that was it. She seemed to be a joyful frontline warrior with not a worry in the world. She was definitely offence based, especially given her muscle distribution and armour joints.
As for Mark…
I looked over at the slightly tanned man fumbling with his spectacles. He was wearing leather armour and grass stained boots. He was covered from the chest down in pockets and belts with items galore, while on his back was a small knapsack. He held the air of a tracker, and though he seemed timid, he also seemed to have some resolve in him as he made sure to look me in the eye as he introduced himself.
"I'm Mark Tanner, Acros sir. I'm a tracker and scout for the guild. I hope to guide you on this expedition."
Rose began to clap, startling the brown haired man as he took notice of her.
"Nice introduction, worry-wart. Now then, are we gonna get going before it gets dark?"
I looked up at the sky and saw that it was far past midday now. Around 16:00 at the moment. The depths of a forest were not to be underestimated in the dark, and now we were not a small army of a hundred, but instead three.
"I don't believe we will have that luxury. Mark, I have need of your expertise."
I looked to the man who stood immediately at attention.
"Go and acquire enough supplies for a three day trip, including our return."
I then pressed the sack of coins I received from Utbrot into his hands, much to his shock.
"Are you sure? This feels like a lot of money!"
"Do not worry."
I spared a glance at the skeptical man as he tried to hand back the money.
"Even if you were thieve from me, it would not be difficult to discern your guilt and the weight of your crime. Now go."
Seeing the man off, I turned back to Rose.
"You and I are going to be accruing power beyond your imagination."
…
Running towards the residential district, Rose began to pester me with questions.
"So why is it again that you need to find a relative of one of the missing party members?"
"Because I need to form a pact to access my full strength. Without those powers, this journey will become far more difficult than necessary."
"Okay, I feel like I got it, and that's good enough for me. Anyways, even if I'm a socialite I didn't know the party too well. I only knew one of them. And they lived here."
We arrived at a small restaurant that seemed to be closed, with a sign hanging outside that said "Rita's Steakhouse". It seems that I could read fairly well, as Rose confirmed my thoughts.
"This is the place. One of the members' names is Kent, and he and his mom work here. I love their food, which was how I got to know the guy."
She walked up to the door and knocked once, then twice, and was about to try a third time when the door opened.
"Honey yo-"
A black haired older woman seemingly in her forties came out to meet us, her dark brown eyes blinded by the sun for a moment as she squinted at us both. Seeing the two of us standing at the door, her face went white as a ghost as her eyes widened. It was a mothers instinct, something that told her we weren't here for anything good. I had seen it many times as a lieutenant of the enclave guard.
That horrified face of despair.
"Where's my son?"
"Ma'am listen for a moment, we believ-"
"DON'T EVEN TELL ME! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"
Her shout seemed to have caused the rest of the street to crack their blind and peek at the brewing situation outside, because I was beginning to feel many eyes from a multitude of directions peering at us.
"Calm down Rita, we don't know anything yet either. We just need to talk to you quickly so lets go inside."
Rose put her hand on the older woman's shoulder and beckoned her to head inside as I followed suit.
Inside the restaurant felt like a cozy hole in the wall pub. Rose brought Rita to a table as Rita seemed to unconsciously take the chairs off it and offer me a seat.
"Ma'am, your name is Rita right?"
The woman was pulled out of her shock as she heard her name, sitting down carefully as though she no longer had the strength to stand.
"Yes, yes it is mister. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I'm just… a little you see."
A shout then echoed from the back of the store as Rose called out to her.
"Rita! Where do you keep that ice box! I'll get you some cold water!"
"On the left of the big shelf is the cellar! It's down there!"
"On it!"
The woman sighed as she heard the clatter of Rose going down the stairs.
"Y'know, I really didn't want that boy to become an adventurer. We lost his father to a black harpy when he was young you see. So it's only me and him left in this family now. So if anything happened because I let him go on those stupid adventures-"
"You would never forgive yourself."
As I finished her words, she looked at me to speak only for her voice to fail her.
"I am here to make sure that does not happen. Your son is indeed missing-"
The woman's eyes were slowly becoming puffy as tears threatened to come forth.
"But I plan on finding him and bringing him home."
Getting out of my seat, I knelt beside the table as her teary eyes focused on me.
"Form a pact with me, a servant of Firmina, and I promise to bring your son home."
Cupping my hands just below my chest, the middle of my chest plate cracked open and slid apart to reveal a small vial made of twisted metal and glass. Within the vial was a small flickering white flame that seemed to be drawn to the woman. It floated towards her, hovering within my hands.
"For Honor! Glory! And Justice!
My shield and sword are at your beck and call!"
Looking the woman straight in the eyes, I sought the desires she held deep within her heart.
"What do you wish from an Errant Blade such as I!?"
"I-I, what?"
"Quickly! What do you want from him?"
Rose, who had just come back into the room, seemed to understand what was going on.
"Uh, um, I want you to find my son and bring him back!"
The plume of fire that had been extinguished earlier now flared from the back of my helm. The infernal cape that flowed from my shoulders swept across the floor behind me, burning nothing, but granting a reassuring warmth to all within the room.
"Now then, to complete the oath, place a finger within the flame."
The woman, shocked by the sudden turn of events, looked to Rose for guidance. The woman on the side could only shrug and mouth "do it".
Unsure of what else to do, she dipped her index finger within the vial. The white flame immediately flared up at the fingers' presence, enveloping it in less than a second.
The woman jolted at the sight, but didn't remove her finger from the vial. After a moment, the flame released her finger and shrunk down. Allowing the vial to float back within my chest, I then closed it up and stood.
"Now that this oath is complete, I promise you this, I will bring you back your son without a doubt."
Both women stared at me for a moment, before Rita tentatively turned her head towards Rose without her gaze ever leaving my helmet.
"I… I have a lot of questions, Rose."
"I do too, but we're on the clock, right Acros?"
"Indeed! I will answer any questions you have at a later date. For now, you must simply trust me."
Turning away from the women, I made my way out of the restaurant. I could hear Rose pass Rita her water before rushing to pick up her hammer and follow me. As the two of us made our way back to the guild where Mark might be waiting for us, a voice called out to us.
"Goodluck! And please, bring back my son!"
Glancing back, I gave her a swift nod. The two of us then began to race back to join our party member. Eager to begin our journey.
…
"So what was that pact anyways? You really didn't explain it, and I'm pretty sure that if I didn't help Rita, you would've failed to uh… light yourself on fire? I'm still not exactly sure what you did."
The two of us now stood in front of the guild, waiting for Mark to arrive. Adventurers would continually peek outside and take a look at me and try to understand my now flaming armour.
Rose on the other hand was just peppering me with questions.
"Seriously, what do the flames do?"
"As long as they are alight, I will have access to strength beyond that of any man. I will also have access to several flame based spells and the like. Think of it like empowering magic. Have you ever had an empowering spell cast on you?"
"You mean a buff? Like a strengthening spell?"
"Yes, in essence it is an extremely powerful strengthening spell based upon my oath as a knight."
"Ooookay then. I feel like I got it, and that's good enough for me. Ah, and if you're wondering about that phrase, it came from a play I saw when I was little. Never stopped saying it since."
"..."
"You seem relaxed."
"And you seem super strong, so all I gotta do is hold my own and I think I should be fine."
"I see."
I then picked up a stone and waved my hand over it before tossing it into the middle of the plaza. Looking about, I noticed Mark making his way over.
"HEY GUYS!"
Mark came waltzing up to us dragging two huge backpacks full of supplies. Setting the bags down, he pushed up his glasses and looked at my new flaming form in awe.
"Uhhh woah. What happened?"
"I empowered myself. It matters not. The sun will begin to set in a few hours so we need to get going. Did you get what I requested? "
"I did, it was easy given the amount of money you gave me. Oh, here."
Taking out the pouch of coins from one his pockets, he handed it to me as I noted it still had significant heft. Satisfied with his haul, I turned to Rose.
"Let's get moving. Grab a backpack.
"Youuuuuuuuuu got it boss!"
Rose picked up a backpack and I picked up the other, carefully extinguishing my cape and plume as we set off towards the gate with Mark trailing behind a little as he explained our route.
…
"Hey Cynane it's the otherworlder guy! And he's with Rose and another guy!"
"OW!"
"Quiet down idiot."
Cynane slapped Haley into silence as she came to meet us halfway through the gate.
"You guys are heading out to search for the missing party right?"
"Indeed."
"We rotated here to the forest side of the city wall just to see you off, aren't you grateful otherworlder guy?"
"A mediocre gift at best, and that is solely due to Cynane."
Haley pouted as Cynane wrote something down on a stone tablet. Cynane then handed it to Haley and turned to face us.
"Alright, I logged your departure. Also…
Be careful, at night the forest is a thousand times more dangerous."
"Understood, we will proceed with caution when possible."
"Alright, you may go, and Rose!"
"Yes?"
"Don't use your eyes too much."
"Got it mom!"
"Ugh, you and Haley are such pieces of work. Now get going and good luck!"
The three of us then passed through the gate and headed towards the forest as I took in the scenery. The forest itself confirmed my suspicions of this area of the world being temperate in nature. Tall conifers and broadleaf trees were common as jogged through the underbrush. There were very few points where we couldn't hear our own footsteps given the amount of leaves and detritus on the ground.
Stealth thus became something of little concern as it was a difficult task for me anyways.
Seeing that our journey may take a while, I decided to compile some stratagems to compliment our composition.
Rose was a light warrior with a hammer and shield. She also carries a shortsword on her hip in case her hammer is damaged or taken, but she is not as effective with it. She also told me about her eyes as we went to see Rita after I asked about them. They held an ignition spell, meaning she could light an enemy on fire just by looking at them for long enough. She can melt metal, burn wood, and even combust gases. The only issues are that it has a fairly mediocre range and that she needs time to charge the spell as it was incomplete in nature when imbued. This was because a Baphomet had painfully inscribed them while she was awake after she killed the demon's husband. She got her revenge however when she escaped her bindings and melted the demon's head. I don't know the full context of the situation, but I do know that she is a competent combatant and that's what matters.
Mark on the other hand was a much simpler man. He was a tracker, and thus had a lot of experience searching for things and people. He had a little bit of magic, but nothing offensive. A scent cleansing spell and a minor fill spell, meaning he could erase his scent and the scents of others. He could also fill cups with water. I'm sure he could also fill things like helmets and even throats, but I'm not sure if he has the skill to do that. As for weapons, he also carried the ever popular short sword, a pair of climbing claws, and a climber's pickaxe. He also had a variety of knives and a short bow for ranged options. He said he wasn't the best shot with the knives, but he was good enough at the bow to be called an archer.
He would obviously be our backline support until he ran out of arrows, at which point he would join us in melee. Hopefully things didn't get to that point.
I think the best way for us to engage would be to have me initiate, then have rose melt a priority target before joining me in the melee. Mark on the other hand would assail them from afar, and try to cover our blind spots.
As long as he moves after every shot, I should be able to keep their attention off him.
Rose and I had to be careful though, the ground was soft and slightly muddy due to rainfall from yesterday. It's easy to slip and fall when struck by a powerful opponent like an ogre or orc and the like.
Journeying deeper into the forest, I explained my thoughts to my allies. They seemed to respect my judgement, and Mark especially appreciated the fact that we had at least a bare bones strategy. We were thinking on the fly here, so I could only come up with so much and consider so many factors before I ran out of material to analyse. I knew very little about our enemies, and could only surmise that they shared some of their traits with the ones from my old world. This meant I wasn't exactly going into this fight blind.
And that was better odds than most of the battles I had ever fought.