Inspection

I'm feeling like I'm missing something.

Sorin lay on his bed; his mind was pondering an issue. Like something that he had forgotten about that could affect his life.

I worked, I scouted out the base, I froze a soldier… That's right, I left him frozen, if only temporarily.

A sharp knock echoed around; he got up in reasonable time and then dressed himself up in a white tunic and dark green pants. Walking over to the door, he brushed his staff to the side. When opening the door, he made sure to use his sensing.

Not a mage.

Opening the door wide, Claya greets him with a grim face. Her eyes wandered left to right, even though her black eyes made it hard to tell. Without asking for permission, she stepped into his home and began talking in a hurry. “Hachi! Hide your staff for today, and don't use any magic. That guard we froze alerted his comrades, and now they are going door to door! I also won't require your help today; focus on hiding.”

I was right. I did overlook the idea that they would eventually be unfrozen and it would get to the point where they would be able to tell what happened. I'm so naive still.

“I will make sure to be careful. But how are you allowing eastern soldiers to do this? Surely that's against some village code?” Would the chief really allow such things.

Claya nodded instantly, her tail swaying faster. “It is, but my father can't protest against them! Because you technically attacked them first. They have a right to figure out who it was. They won't burn or attack anyone who isn't involved, so that's why they got permission to search everything.”

“I guess my help can only extend so far. But I understand the situation. Thank you, Claya.” Sorin then waved her off as she ran off before giving a quick turn around back to Sorin for one final word next to the staircase.

She took a deep breath. “There's some new soldier they got to move in because of this. He has dark grey armour, and he's pretty tall with a deep voice that shivered me when he spoke. You can't even see his face, but my senses go all funky near him as they do against you.” She quickly jerked her head to the side, her eyes widened, and she ran off.

Her senses go funky next to me? She did say that beastfolk are sensitive to magic. They really have some amazing powers, it seems. But throwing that aside. The east has a whole mage on their side. That should be impossible since the west has them all, but I should expect they were hidden. Anything can show up in war.

Sorin takes a look to his side. Staff leaning near the wall.

Behind my bed, that's the only place where I can go where I can still reach it if anything. Based on her reaction, I've got only a couple of minutes.

His mind goes to other things.

The books can stay there, since they're forbidden; then even this guy won't know the contents. But to be safe, I will put them near my staff.

As planned, he hides both the books and the staff. The place behind the bed is ideal, as the bed covers it, and the only way for someone to see what's behind it would be to be on someone's bed, which wouldn't really be customary for a search.

Knock knock.

Sorin tensed up, walking himself over to the door. He gently opened it. His entire frame got filled with dark grey. He didn't react, however. He looked up and expected what he saw. The person was wearing a helmet that covered his entire face, not even a spot for his eyes. Just dark grey all around.

“What may I help with, sir?” Sorin got his casual tone, or at least tried to.

The man just stood at his door. “A search; there has been a mage that froze one of my soldiers. I'm here to find him.” The man looked down, or at least seemed like he did. Waiting for not a single rejection out of Sorin.

“You are from the east, that means? That's unfortunate that your friend got frozen, but I can't do that.”

At least he shouldn't. I have lowered my magic around my body to the very minimum so that I could appear human. The staff would usually do this, but I can do it myself too with all that training. But he has no magic signature too? It's weird.

The man didn't move a bit. “I will condone a search now then. You do seem pretty average; however, it won't take much, sir Hachi.”

How does he know my name?

“Right this way then, sir.” Sorin moved aside, allowing the man to step in. “I'm guessing you heard of me then? I wouldn't mind selling you an axe if that's what you want”

The man chuckled within his mask. “Smithery is a respected profession. I heard you turned that smithery into almost a machine. Tripled the amount of production. I'm quite surprised an average person can achieve that.”

“Maybe I had a talent for such things. I was always praised highly.” Sorin moved himself towards the bed, sitting himself down. His hands were ready to grip the staff if anything were off; the man was now searching the kitchen area.

He looked through every shelf, every corner. But he was gentle about it. He wasn't trying to make a mess of Sorin's home out of respect "I'm sure you did.” His gloved hands skimmed the woodwork of the kitchen. “So why have you decided to come into this village?”

“My hometown got destroyed during the war. It was attacked by mages who decided to try and take the town for a position, but we fought well before migrating here.” Sorin completely made a lie that sounded somewhat possible.

The man smiled under the mask. “Where was the town?”

He's smart. I have to make something up; giving up now is too obvious.

“I don't know how to read maps. But it was closer to the southern continent of Uloraitha.” Sorin flicked his hand closer to his staff.

The man paced closer towards Sorin. He didn't take a seat or join him. “That's an interesting place to get attacked by the mages. I heard there is a mage here in this town who works in the smithery. Funny how word from a common person with a family can get around fast.”

“I haven't personally seen one,” Sorin chuckled towards the man.

The man did not reply, however. He went towards the door before excusing himself out and closing the door behind him. It was an abnormal way to leave.

He knew the entire time. But why didn't he do anything? This is impossible. What am I dealing with here? A mage, clearly; he most likely even sensed magic despite my suppression and decided to play this mind game with me. But why didn't he attack?

Sorin took his staff, not like he would ruin his home anyway, but having it just in his hand gave a sense of safety when opposing such an anomaly.