154. Wharftow

Fire was one of several elemental affinities of magic. The elemental wheel consisted of fire, water, wind, rock, metal, electricity, and light. Each affinity had their schools of thought and discipline. There were two purposes for this.

The first was to allow a person to gain the desired affinity.

The second was to facilitate further growth into their acquired magical affinity.

All traditional-based magic, which was magic that could be acquired at any point in a person’s life, had some form of discipline, including healing magic. Healing magic, however, was the only traditional magic that was notoriously difficult to attain.

It’s said that people were born healers. There was no rhyme or reason when someone received the affinity. It just appeared.

But there was one thing all healers unanimously shared.

Their innocence, and their willingness to ‘help’ others.

Including the Wandering Healers and the Scarlet Healers, but they were a whole different topic altogether.

Why did this all matter?

Affinities were like Professions. Once received, they began from the lowest level possible. No exceptions, aside from when a person initially became a Blessed, where the Nexus needed to grant Skills and Professions that reflected an individual’s abilities as they currently were.

Like how Frost began with Greater Healer, rather than just Healer. Not all Profession Masteries ended the same. Frost’s Otherworldly Healer was unique to herself, and the same was true for every affinity and Profession.

This meant that Frost’s Conflagrator should have been a beginner Profession. But it allowed her to display mastery levels of control over fire. Exceeding them even. The Profession she gained was like a Mastery Profession in of itself, or perhaps even an Original magic considering how wildly different her flames were to conventional fire mages of the likes of Furio.

She was understandably curious about the implications. This meant that her magic was inherently beyond the realms of a mastery in fire magic, undoubtably due to her blazing history. It pinned both Frost and Jury as irregular, since Jury also began with a highly attached technology, which had effectively replaced her heart.

The flavor text of Professions reflecting the soul rang like a ghastly bell in the back of her mind.

The Archivist was also curious, considering she remembered a razed city. But she couldn’t bear to imagine that Frost was responsible for it.

And neither could Frost.

Conflagrator was bound to become insurmountably powerful in time. With each Civilization Affinity Corrupted they defeated they came all that much closer to completing the tale of Civitas Cinder.

Or in other words; the tale of the City of Ashes.

* * *

Wharftow was the name of a small settlement home to 500. Beautiful sweeping hills untouched by the urbanization of the more populated towns of the H3 Sector caused it to be a popular location for visitors, tourists and Adventurers looking for temporary respite.

It sat between the main city of H3 and the vast wildlands leading to H5 up north. Despite being situated in an Aquatid majority Sector, a fair number of humans among other races came to indulge in its stunning landscape.

Friendly faces and not a single guard were posted at its wall-less perimeter. The only protection they had from wildlife and potentially bad actors were themselves. The small town was mostly a residential place, with several inns reserved for paying customers.

Unlike the usual baroque architecture Frost was used to, this fell in line with a more medieval theme. Cobblestone foundations and paths, timber homes, and a beautiful lake where a small fishing harbor sat.

It was all relatively low magic from what Frost could tell, aside from the lanterns which were powered by magical fire stone rather than candles or oil. Aquatid men hauled their catch onto the harbor and separated the fish into various piles. One was for the inns, another for the town itself, and a very small portion for the guild Receptionists.

“As tax?” Frost questioned as they immersed themselves in the atmosphere of the town, smiling at the many faces that greeted them with small nods and waving tentacles.

Frost noticed that a few of them had lesions of some kind, and an unnatural cough. She wondered if it was normal for Aquatids since they were aquatic creatures, and maybe it was due to them being out of the water. The triplets just shrugged without a care in the world.

“They’re so friendly. I love this place already.” Jury beamed with a smile.

“It’s not tax. It’s appreciation. Receptionists do a lot of work besides just standing there looking pretty.” Cer explained. “It’s not uncommon for Guilds to become close to the town they’re built in. They’re not some kind of mining company that fucks everyone up. They’re built to help people.”

“You’re talking about Caldera Industries, right?” Frost wondered as they approached a small, single-floored building made from white stone.

It was none other than the town’s Guild, and it was by far the smallest one they had seen so far.

“They used to be a mining company until Justica Arms swayed with them to step down from their operations. Obviously, they still mine in private because where else is Justica Arms getting the crystals for their Hyperlinks from?” Cer said as Ignis stared at her.

She never failed to listen with careful ears. For someone who was still a child at heart, Ignis was highly interested in the affairs of the world.

Who could blame her? She was as intertwined with the conspiracies of this world as they were.

“Gravity wells. Ever heard of them? When a machine fails there’s a chance that its Core implodes into a black sphere that eat everything around it. A lot of the mining facilities took the villages along with them and left behind sinkholes all along the northern Regions of our continent.” Res explained in detail as they stepped through a pair of opened doors, and they were instantly greeted by perfumed wood and lively chattering.

“Galia was pissed from what we heard. Do you know just how crazy that is? A young Beholder carrying enough political weight to convince a top dog? Her tech changed a lot of things for the better. But she’s still a snake.” Cer snapped her fingers.

A few eyes naturally fell onto them.

Their presence instantly captivated men and women alike from their timber tables. The chattering was strong, but it subsided slightly as they made their way to a desk where a green-suited Receptionist awaited with a kind smile.

The clanking mugs of beer and tableware filled the air as tentacle-legged women dressed in maid outfits zoomed by, serving the tables with warm meals and cold beverages. The hems of their skirts were massive, and luckily the tables were spaced out enough to facilitate them.

Frost counted more than 20 tentacles actively gliding them around as they made loud, wet clapping sounds against the floorboards. Once again, she was enthralled by the sapient races of this world.

“Here to see the guild sweethearts~?” One of them greeted, waving a tentacle with a ribbon tied into a bow at the tip. “Just ahead~ You’re all new here. I can tell since I’ve never seen your faces before. Hmhmhmhm! I hope you have a wonderful stay!”

“Thank you~ The town’s beautiful.” Frost greeted on passing, pleased to see such a friendly face.

The triplets on the other hand, shuddered in disgust.

“Are you that easy?” Ber judged her, silently retching at the Aquatid’s presence.

“No, I’m not. I figured this town wasn’t bad. Look, I’m not naive enough to know how suspicious that would sound elsewhere. No chance a town is going to be overly friendly in Grandis without having ulterior motives.” Frost answered. “But here? What is there to gain? And besides, what can they do to us?”

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Cer mischievous chuckled, folding her arms highly. “I like that. Be strong enough to willing walk right into danger. Take a hit, destroy them, and can claim self-defense to the 6thBranch – Oww? Ignis!?”

Ignis pinched Cer’s cheeks with both her paws, staring daggers right into her eyes which instantly caused her tail to wag.

“That’s not what she meant at all.” Jury sighed, pinching Cer’s ear.

“Ouuuuuuch~”

* * *

Frost handed in the paperwork alongside the 15 Slime Cores as proof. For Guilds this small, quests needed physical proof to be completed since they did not have enough Golden Thumb members to be brought out into the field.

“15 slimes… for a group of 6?” The only Guild Receptionist said, glancing down at the order which, to her surprise, was stamped by either a Captain, Underboss or perhaps even the big Boss herself.

Frost could tell that she was just as curious as she was confused. 15 slimes for a group of 6 was, simply put, completely overkill. Frost had to stifle a laugh, only now realizing how funny it must look.

“Complete. Can I see your – *Cough* … Ahh… Your Guild Plate? Just yours is fine.” She kindly asked, receiving Frost’s Guild Plate to which she suddenly entered yet another coughing fit.

“Are you ok? I saw a lot of people with the same cough. Is there a flu circling around?” Frost wanted to figure out what was wrong with her, although –

“*Cough* *Cough* C-Color…? I-Incandescent? You’re – You’re a Color? Here? In our small town? *Cough*.”

– She knew exactly what caused her second bout of uncontrollable coughs.

“Here. Don’t worry about that. Please give me your hand. I’m a healer.” Frost assured as the Receptionist offered her hand, and much to her surprise –

“Healing magic? A healer as a Color? Uh… Wait, a healer!?” She suddenly exclaimed, causing a number of eyes to fall upon them. “Sorry! I’m sorry! My throat’s… it’s fine now. But you’re a healer –!”

“Simmer down, newbie!” A supervising Guild member commanded, causing her to step aside as another woman appeared from a door leading to somewhere in the back. “I’m so sorry about her. Matters should be private and always treated personally. Don’t ever raise your voice.”

She scolded the newbie Receptionist before she let loose of a long sigh.

“Ahem. I apologize for her misconduct. There won’t be another incident like this. But I can’t exactly blame her either. It’s been tough for a lot of us folks again.”

According to her, the town was plagued by a strange sickness that was not contagious per se, since many people didn’t get sick at all despite being in the proximity of the ill. She explained it in depth, caring little if they actually wanted to hear it or not.

Frost glanced at her companions. She could tell they all carried the same thought.

“… What a sly woman.” Jury whispered. “You don’t have to beat around the bush. If you need help, then ask.”

“Huh? It’s not our problem.” Cer muttered.

“Just get another healer. No big problem.” Ber shrugged.

This lady made it obvious that she wanted them to help. A Color’s aid would be instrumental, not to mention that she was also a healer to boot.

However, there was an interesting detail about this phenomenon.

“We can’t just go fetch another healer. You think we haven’t tried that?” She growled in frustration. “Professionalism. Sorry. Ahem… Ok. Look. In the past month we’ve called around 4 healers, but the sickness keeps coming back just days after they leave. We know the first instance was caused by a small glowing rock, but that’s been thrown away ever since.”

“It’s a curse. Might even be one of those Corrupted, I bet.” An armored man shuddered from one of the tables aside. “It doesn’t really afflict outsiders.”

“Just us!” One of the Aquatid maids approached her, showing major lesions that ran from her fingers up to her shoulders. Um – Healer? I-If you don’t mind… H-healing my arms?”

Those were not natural. They were almost like burn wounds now that she realized it. Frost easily healed her with Grand Healing. The black particles were a sight to behold, and before long, a small line formed behind the tentacle maid.

“Emission Stacks. That seems to be the root cause.”

Emission? Meaning?

“Unknown. [Cleanse] seems to work on them. But the issue is that it is a reoccurring illness.”

Stacks but not a Condition. Weird. You think it’s the work of a Corrupted? Frost glanced over at Cer. So much for Corrupted being rare. I’m going to have another long ‘chat’ with that wolf.

“It is possible. Shall we investigate?”

I don’t have a reason to refuse. The source was that object, and she mentioned that it was disposed of in one of their neighboring woodlands. I won’t do it for free though.

Therefore, Frost erected her posture and placed a hand along the counter.

“We’ll do it. But I want something in return.”

She bargained as the newbie instantly went to fetch the contract regarding this mission.

“Give us the best rooms you have in this town. Please make our stay worthwhile. In return, we’ll root out the source of this sickness. As a Color Incandescent, and as the Black Dove, you have my guarantee.”

Besides, it was also a convenient excuse to forage in a forest for a good meal. Frost’s constant hunger needed to be sated in one way or another. Fish? No thanks. She already had enough thanks to a certain herring.

“Jury’s wondering why you specifically wanted a room?”

Well… I want to get closer to Jury. In one way or another. Nothing to kill the mood like being knee deep in a plague-ridden town.

“Say no more.”