The ratlings scattered, but instead of chasing, Humphrey dropped his sword, which vanished into the air. He took a deep breath, then a stream of fire sprayed out of his mouth like a human flamethrower. He walked the burning line over the fleeing ratlings, torching crops and monsters alike. Three ratlings escaped the flames, having run at different angles to the main cluster. One was being harried by Humphrey’s familiar, which had turned into some kind of predatory cat, around the same size as the ratling. The other two were sprinting away in different directions.
Humphrey’s wings had vanished after he landed, but they reappeared briefly to fling him forwards through the air. They only appeared for a moment, in which they hurled him faster than he had been flying earlier. Another sword appeared in his hand, this one smaller, with a blade made up of metal feathers. He brought it down on a fleeing ratling as he landed, cutting it down with one strike. He vanished from the spot he was standing, reappearing in the path of the final ratling. His sword was held out in front of him and the startled ratling ran straight onto it. Humphrey yanked the blade up, spraying blood as the monster fell dead.
“He got teleport,” one of the candidates next to Jason said as they watched Humphrey through the magnified image. “I bet they paid a lot for that awakening stone.”
Humphrey glanced over to his familiar, who was sitting proudly next to a ratling, dead at his feet. As soon as it saw Humphrey notice it, it transformed into a dog and bounded over for Humphrey to scratch behind its ear. Humphrey walked back to the group through the field, his body drenched in monster blood. The others gave him a wide berth, except for Jason.
“You alright?” Jason asked. He knew Humphrey had killed monsters as part of his training, but he also knew Humphrey was a kind man. Violence didn’t come naturally to him.
Humphrey nodded. His normally friendly smile was macabre on his bloody face.
“That’s what I like about you, Jason,” he said. “You don’t pretend that what we do doesn’t affect us.”
“I don’t think being numb to it all makes you strong,” Jason said. “Strong is accepting the choices you make and owning up to the consequences.”
Like Jason, Humphrey had a dimensional storage space, from which he took a bottle of clear liquid and tipped it over his head. The crystal wash flowed over him, eliminating every trace of blood and filth.
“I’d like to be strong like that,” Humphrey said. “You know, Jason, sometimes it’s like you’re from another world.”
Jason had long ago realised that Danielle had figured him out, not realising she hadn't shared it with Humphrey. He decided to tell his friend all about it when they had the time. For now, they were surrounded by other people. Vincent looked Humphrey over, now clean, the crystal wash rapidly evaporating.
“You got them all,” Vincent said.
“Yes, sir,” Humphrey said.
“Burned a good portion of a farmer’s crop, though.”
“I thought the farmer would rather lose some harvest now than family later,” Humphrey said. “I made a choice.”
“Yes you did,” Vincent said, putting a hand on Humphrey’s shoulder. “Good job.”
55
Rune Tortoise
The routine for the field assessment was to stop in a town or village each night. In the morning they would collect monster notices from the adventuring board and set out to deal with them. Vincent took an approach where the would-be adventurers who met his standards were no longer called on for the monster hunts. Starting with Humphrey, the first three days saw four of the seven candidates move from participants to onlookers.
On the third morning, they were delayed in one of the towns Jason had passed through on his original journey to Greenstone. Vincent wasn't willing to turn away the quickly growing crowd of earnest sick people, so the town constable once again turned his office into a makeshift clinic.
Stopping to help the locals delayed the group's monster-hunting activities until the end of the morning. As Jason healed the sick, the grateful locals pulled out tables and benches, laying out a cornucopia of food for his companions. Some of the aristocratic candidates turned up their noses at a rustic feast until they started to smell the food. Once Humphrey started filling his plate with enthusiasm, the others followed his lead.
Liana Stelline was one of the adventurer candidates who was acquainted with Humphrey. Their families moved in similar circles, and they had both failed the previous assessment together. Like Humphrey, her family wanted her to pass on merit, rather than privilege. Sitting next to him on a bench, she asked Humphrey about Jason.
“How did you end up friends with him?” she asked. “Don’t you find him insufferably smug?”
“He can be… challenging,” Humphrey said. “He’s a long way from home and I think he likes to put people off-balance because it’s how he feels all the time. He can be difficult, and oblivious, but I think there’s a kindness and generosity under it all. Look at what he’s doing right now.”
“Tell Thadwick Mercer about kindness and generosity,” Liana said.
“That’s fair,” Humphrey said. “He can be mean and self-impressed when he’s trying to prove how clever he is, which maybe isn’t quite as clever as he thinks. He certainly won’t get along with everyone. But look around us.”
He gestured around at the villagers and all feast laid out for them.
“How many adventurers get this kind of reception?”
“He gets along with common people because he’s common. That, and he’s giving out free healing,” she said. “My sister has healing powers; she could do the exact same thing.”
“But does she?” Humphrey asked.
In the constable’s cottage, the last person shuffled out.
“That’s everyone?” Vincent asked.
“I think so,” Jason said.
The constable nodded.
“You know,” he said, “it would make my life easier if you’d warn me you’re coming through instead of just turning up.”
“That’s on the boss man,” Jason said, jabbing a thumb in Vincent’s direction. “He sets the destination. Did I hear something about lunch being put on?”
That night, they were stopped in another little town where they had taken up all four of the inn’s twin rooms. Humphrey and Jason were sitting on their beds because there wasn’t space anywhere else in the cramped twin share. Jason was going over the clothing in his hands, examining the ragged claw marks in the light of a magic lamp.
“This cloth armour doesn’t hold up so well,” Jason said.
“Well, it is cloth,” Humphrey said. “If you want real protection out of it you need to spend more on the magic. Or you could try something heavier.”
“I didn’t like the leather I was finding,” Jason said. “It was either too stiff and restrictive, or too expensive for what it did. I have a good amount of money, but that doesn’t mean I’m alright with being ripped off.”
“All the best armour is bought and sold at the Adventure Society trade hall,” Humphrey said. “Once we pass the test you can buy something there. How well does that cloak power of yours protect you?”
“I did some testing with Gary,” Jason said. “It doesn’t hold up to bronze-level attacks at all, which was no surprise. It’s really good against cutting attacks, so that’s a lot of swords, knives and claws.”
He looked down at the claw marks in his magically treated cloth.
“So long as they actually hit the cloak, anyway. Stabbing attacks punch through a bit better, like those spines that monster shot at me yesterday.”
“And blunt attacks?”
“The cloak doesn’t cushion them at all.”
“That’s a shame,” Humphrey said. “A lot of monsters are just big, tough, and try to batter you to death.”
“That’s where the unrestricted movement comes in.”