The Red District

Walking to the castle, Darx thought about his party. He’d seen Neku fight in the ruins, but she had been on the defensive. He’d never seen her make a real attack. Wendy he’d only seen in training. But while that felt like only a few weeks ago for Darx, it was close to a year for Neku and Wendy. How much had they grown since then? Darx didn’t know what to expect from either Wendy or Neku, and he had no clue how they would all do together in a real fight.

They met up with Wendy near the center of the city. They headed North, towards where Estella had spotted Amelia. It would be almost an hour after she spotted Amelia by the time they got there. He had rushed out as fast as he could, but an hour behind and a large area of the city to cover wasn’t great odds. Darx also couldn’t help but wonder what Amelia would even be doing heading towards the Red District, called that because it of the shady nature of the guilds that operated there. The Royal Guard kept tabs on most of the north district, but they mostly worked to keep the unsavory activity away from the center of town. The far North sections of the city only really saw the Royal Guard when there were serious crimes to investigate. The only reason to go there was to purchase goods or services that were illegal. Darx couldn’t imagine Amelia getting into illegal activity. But then he couldn’t picture her sneaking around the worst part of the city either. What had happened to her?

Not knowing what they would face in the slums, Darx took a cautious route and copied Neku’s [High Jump] and Wendy’s [Fast Blade]. They were still a ten-minute walk from where Amelia was last seen, so he should have the ability to switch his skills up if they faced any real danger. But even then, three B-ranks should be more than enough for whatever criminal guilds could throw at them.

“I haven’t been here in a while, but this. . . it was never this bad.” Wendy said as they passed by many people camped out in back roads, living in alleys, some just sitting on the street.

“There’s so many refugees coming into the city, there’s no room for them.” Neku’s voice was sad, and frustrated.

“And there’s so much crime now,” Wendy stated. “We’ve increased patrols, but it hasn’t made much difference.”

“Be on guard then, and remember what you represent now. Bring hope and justice to these streets.” Neku told her.

Wendy straightened her posture. “You’re right, I can’t hide anymore.”

As they walked Darx saw the real state of the city. There were so many more people in the slums now, all the refugees, people from destroyed villages, people fleeing from the border, they were crammed into the worst areas of the city.

“Hi,” Darx said to a small cluster of people. “We’re looking for a young woman with dark hair. She was seen passing through her less than an hour ago.”

There was no response.

“Come on, one of you has to have seen her.” Darx exclaimed. “We’re trying to help her, she’s a friend of mine.”

They looked at the ground, silent.

“Come on Darx, even if they did see her, they aren’t going to trust us.” Wendy said, resignation in her voice.

They walked around the streets. Darx quickly realized how difficult finding Amelia would be. There were so many buildings, and even the abandoned ones now had people living in them. The people not only weren’t helpful; most wouldn’t talk to them at all. Wendy kept giving bits of money to any children she saw, but they weren’t making any progress on finding out anything about Amelia. Soon they stopped asking, Darx had to hope Amelia would see him, come to him, let him help her. Or that Estella would catch sight of her again, and let them know.

They walked the slums for hours, heading farther and farther into the dangerous territory known as the Red District. He could tell they were being watched, but so far no one had interfered with them. Eventually they reached the true northern border of the city. The buildings were lower, and many were connected directly to the large outer wall of Riledo.

Darx noticed the difference immediately. The alleys and sidewalks where so many people had been sleeping, sitting, living were suddenly empty. No one was sleeping on the streets here. The few people that were looked like they were on drugs, looking to sell them, or women looking to sell themselves. No one approached their group, but they didn’t run away either, they just stared or sneered at them as they passed. Darx gripped his sword, ready to pull it.

“Eh! Boss, look.” Darx heard a voice say.

“That lil’ Wendy?”

“I heard she’d gon to the palace. Looks like she joined up.”

“That armor don’ fit ya girl. Why don’ you take it off and com giv’ me one like you used to?”

A couple of greasy looking men were coming out of an alley towards them, mocking Wendy. He could see her courage wilt.

“Excuse me gentlemen,” Darx said, trying to sound formal while preparing to draw his weapon. “We’re looking for a young woman with dark hair. She has been seen in this area.”

“How ‘bout you get outta here, pretty boy, and leave our little Wendy so we can remind her of her place.” The man in the middle said with a nasty grin.

No sooner than he had finished his sentence, the man had Neku's spear blade at his throat.

“How about I save us all from your mouth by removing your head?” Neku shouted, nearly shaking with rage.

“You don’ know who I am.” The man said, backing up. “Stick around and you’ll find out though; you don’t belong here church girl.”

The men backed away, but never broke eye contact.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Wendy said.

“Who was that creep?” Neku asked when they had enough space between them and the disgusting men.

“He’s a gang leader. Not a big one, but they have connections to some guilds.”

“How does he know you?” Darx asked.

“A friend owed him money, I paid it off.” The way she said it made it clear she hadn’t paid the debt with coin.

“I’m sorry.” Darx said.

Wendy shrugged. “I did what I had to do to survive. It’s just a bit weird to be confronted with how different my life is now.”

“Darx, look.” Neku said pointing up.

“Is that one of Estella’s crows?”

“Hopefully.” Neku said, then waved to it. If Estella was watching, she’d at least know that they saw it.

The crow cawed and flew off, heading East, right over the street. The three of them ran after it.

They followed the bird down the street and around a corner, where Darx stopped. Not far away he could see a heavily armored man standing, his massive shield resting on the ground. Next to him was a man in very light armor, likely a mage. As soon as Darx saw them, they saw him, and they started to move. Two others stood by them, cheap armor and a staff, likely low level or newer adventurers. Darx immediately noticed how the group moved to block line of sight to a sketchy looking man talking to a woman with long blonde hair.

"Hello,” Darx said, stepping forward. He figured it was best to just act formally and see what happened. “We’re looking for a young woman with long dark hair. Have you seen anyone like that recently?”

“A young woman, you say. In this part of the city?” The man in lighter armor responded, clearly mocking him. As the man said it the shady looking man clutched his cloak around him and ran in the opposite direction. The young woman froze for a minute before starting to move away herself.

"Stop!" Darx yelled. "If you need help. . ." He started to call to the young woman but was cut off.

"You don't belong here. Your guild doesn't have jurisdiction here, boy." The young lady turned a corner and disappeared. Darx hoped she was okay, but he had bigger concerns at the moment.

“Hey, Theo, look. That guy’s got red eyes.” The one in heavy armor said.

“Shit, you’re right Bobby, look at them. They practically glow.”

Darx gripped his sword handle.

“We don’t want trouble; we just need to find our friend and we’ll get out of here.”

The man laughed. “You don’t have to want trouble to find it, boy. . . and you found it.”

Wendy stepped in front of Darx. “How about you just clear out of here, let us finish our search, and we forget all of this?”

“You don’t know how much those red eyes are worth, do you?” he responded. “There’s no way you are leaving here alive.”

Immediately Darx felt something hit his shoulder, right below his pauldron. Darx looked to see an arrow sticking out of his arm. It wasn’t in very far, the brunt of the force absorbed by his armor, but it hurt.

“Get em’ boys, we’re about to be rich.” Called out the heavily armored man who was putting on his helmet. “

“Try not to mess up the short one, she’ll fetch a pretty penny on the market.” Said someone from behind the armored man.

“Forget about the women, red eyes is the only one that matters, and we don’t need him alive.” Said the man who spoke first, he looked to be the leader. He had pulled out an orb and Darx could see the mana building around it.

“Stay behind me Darx.” Wendy said right before a bolt of lightning arced out of the orb and dissipated in front of Wendy.

“What the hell?” The leader yelled. “Get the red haired one.”

Darx had his sword and staff out, and he tried to keep Wendy between him and the mage. If they could keep him neutralized the fight would be a lot easier, electricity spells were nasty.

‘Fwap’ an arrow just missed his head as he moved sideways, sticking into the house behind him.

“I have the archer.” Neku yelled. In one jump, she was up on the roof of the buildings.

“I’ll take the mage.” Wendy yelled and charged. She ran past a younger man with cheap armor and sword, he looked scared, and barely even tried to stop her. Darx saw another lightning bolt fizzle in front of her but before she could reach the mage the big man in the heavy armor smashed into her.

[Intercept] he yelled as his giant shield smashed into Wendy, sending her flying several meters.

Darx called up his [water barrier] and summoned his [water elemental]. He could see four enemies in the alley, and with the archer on the roof, they were outnumbered enough to make this dangerous. He’d need to engage as many people as he could, give Wendy and Neku more favorable fights. He sent his elemental at the mage, hopefully she would keep him busy for a bit.

Darx charged at the timid looking fighter, if he could get him down quick, the odds would be much more in their favor. He heard a scream and the sound of electricity, a bright flash from the roof told him Neku had caught, and likely dispatched, the archer.

Suddenly he stumbled. Something had hit him in the back of the leg. He reached back and pulled out a small throwing dagger. Where had that come from?

“I can’t touch this bitch with my magic." The mage shouted. "Luke, get over here. I’ll deal with red-eyes.” The timid looking fighter moved to help the tank fight Wendy.

“Fucking summoners.” The mage yelled as a water ball hit him in the back. Darx didn’t give him time to recover, he charged, activating his borrowed [Fast Strikes].

[Intercept] Darx heard and he felt the impact as he was sent airborne.

“Haha!” The heavily armored man mocked, “You are no match for us!”

Darx landed near an alley, unfazed as his [Water Barrier] had absorbed the impact, but as he jumped back up he saw a flash of movement to his right. He brought up his sword in time to deflect an attack he almost didn't see coming.

“Ooh, lucky.” He saw a nasty grin from a man dressed in black. The man jumped back toward the alley and vanished.

“Shit! They have a rogue, keep your eyes peeled.” Darx yelled as his [Water Barrier] absorbed a lightning bolt. It wouldn’t take more than few more shots like that. His water elemental was already gone; the mage had taken her down fast. The lightning mage was a real problem. He was at least a B-rank, using a second-tier element like Electricity meant he couldn’t be ranked lower than that, and he was throwing a lot of damage around.

[Intercept] He heard Wendy grunt again. That tank was a menace, but trying to focus the tank with a rogue and that caster around wouldn’t be smart. It was two versus four down here, the one he assumed was likely a healer was still standing in the back and then there was the archer Neku was fighting.

Darx saw movement in his peripheral vision and looked to see Neku leap off the roof where she had been facing the archer. She flew high into the air, flipping her spear upside down before planting her feet on the spear’s wings. She bent her legs, pushing off as she came down, driving her spear into the shoulder of the tank. He heard the man scream and crash to the ground. Neku flipped backwards off of her spear then extended her arm. The spear wrenched itself out of the Tank’s armor and returned to her hand. Darx was stunned, her attack was incredible, beautiful even.

Darx was pulled out of his fascination by the feel of a sharp blade piercing his [Water Barrier] and lodging itself in his ribcage. He stumbled forward, cursing himself for losing focus in a fight. He was aware enough to dodge to the side when the rogue tried to follow up with a stab to his spine, and he scrambled back, away from the rogue, who took the opportunity to jump back into the shadows and disappear.

The wound in his side wasn't deep, and Darx turned his attention back to the mage. Hunting a rogue when outnumbered was foolish. Darx tried to be more aware of his surroundings as he rejoined the fight. Darx threw some water balls at the mage, who used a gust spell to blow them off course. The mage responded by sending a stream of fire at Darx. Darx used the copied [High Jump] again to get to the roof of the nearest building, avoiding the fire. He fired a few more water balls at the mage.

“You expect to defeat me with such low-level magic? This is insulting!” The mage yelled. He shot a lightning bolt at Neku, who had the upper hand against the tank before the spell hit her. She had hit the tank pretty hard but he looked like he was still in good shape. That cleric was a problem too. Darx didn’t have healing, these guys were better coordinated and with a cleric, they could outlast Darx's trio. With the Rogue around Darx couldn't afford to use his [Water Lance], he needed to conserve mana for defense. What they needed was something to change the balance of power in this fight, and they needed it quickly.

He felt his [Water Barrier] drop as another stab got through and hit him in his back. It felt like fire exploding through his body as the knife lodged deeper into him. He spun around as the rogue lunged at him again with his large knife. Darx was able to block it with his staff, but a kick to his shin drove him to the ground.

Darx pushed himself along the roof, trying to create distance between himself and the rogue. His shoulder ached where he had been shot, his back burned from the stab wound and his leg was starting to feel numb. There must have been some kind of paralytic on that knife. Darx needed to act fast while he still could. The rogue smiled at him wickedly, then, with an extremely quick series of steps he closed the gap between them and raised his knife.

Darx had enough time to activate [Triple Slash], and time slowed down, Darx swung and intercepted the rogue’s long, nasty-looking knife with his staff, ignoring the pain from his shoulder and back from the impact. His sword he swung for the rogue’s arm, slicing deep into his forearm. The second set of attacks he sent into his opponent’s chest, forcing him to bend over, exposing his head and neck. Darx then brought his staff and sword together at head level, nearly severing the rogue’s neck. Darx could see the surprise on the man’s face as he realized his fate had been sealed.

“One down.” He said as he felt [Harmonic Drain] heal his wounds. He was lucky to be alive, the rogue had gotten cocky and walked into his [Triple Slash], or he would have been in real trouble. Darx pulled himself up and looked over the roof to the street. Assuming the Archer was down as well, it was a three on four fight, with only two of the enemies looking like they were any threat.

“Get this bitch off of me!” He heard as Wendy took a swing with her sword at the Lightning Mage.

[Intercept] He saw Wendy get hit by the tank again. Neku’s spear was stuck in the tank’s shoulder, but it hadn't stopped him from protecting the mage. Their cleric started to cast. They had to get that healer down or that tank would never let them touch the mage.

“Neku, the healer! Wendy, the Mage! He can’t tank all of us!” Darx yelled and threw some more water balls at the mage, hopefully it would distract him enough.

Neku used [pull] and the spear ripped out of the tank’s armor. She caught it and spun, throwing it again right at the healer as Wendy rushed the Mage.

“Shit!” the young man yelled and just barely dodged. Then the spear flashed and the healer yelled out from being shocked by the lightning orbs in Neku’s spear. She had three orbs in her spear, only one of them was still glowing. But Wendy again got knocked to the ground by the tank before she could reach the mage.

“Fuck! I’m getting real sick of you.” She yelled, getting up a bit gingerly. Darx watched as Neku leapt over a lightning attack, called her spear to her mid-air and stabbed the cleric in the thigh as she landed. Another lightning ball hit her in the back, forcing her attention back to the mage.

The cleric was staggered, and hopefully out of the fight. The other fighter was nowhere to be seen, Darx had to assume he had run off.

Darx shot more water balls at the mage, hoping to keep him on the defensive and jumped off the roof. Darx used [Gust] to slow his descent and land. He reformed his [Water Barrier] and charged at the mage. They needed to overwhelm that tank if they were ever going to deal with the mage. Wendy saw him move and charged the tank with [Shield Bash]. She got there just in time, hitting him right as he activated [Intercept]. The Tank flew at Darx, but he was off-balance and missed, wiping out after passing behind him.

The mage saw Darx running at him and put up his own defensive shield, it crackled with electricity. It didn’t look like something fun to run into, so Darx veered to the side and focused his air magic into his weapons, just like Syvis had showed him. He swung, sending two [Air Blade] attacks at the mage. The attacks passed through his defensive field and hit the mage, cutting his leg deeply. The electric field lashed out where the blades passed through, but not far enough to reach Darx.

The mage turned, his face clenched in pain and anger. He put his hands together, and focused his mana. Darx saw it build up and tried to throw everything he could into his [Water Barrier]. He could only hope it would hold.

[Lightning] The Mage’s hair turned white as one insanely bright lightning bolt arced from his hands, right to Darx. Darx flinched, bracing for the shock of the electricity hitting him, but instead he felt someone crash into him. Darx was knocked to the ground as his water barrier collapsed.

"Damn it, someone deal with that bitch!" Darx heard the mage yell again as he realized it was Wendy on top of him.

"That was close Darx, watch your angles." Wendy pushed off of him and stood. "Try to distract the tank, if I can get to the mage we can end this."

Darx looked to see Neku already engaged with the tank. He called up water from his ring, using every bit of mana he had left he formed a [Water Lance]and threw it into the tank's leg. It pierced his armor and the large man stumbled. [Rapid Strikes] Neku pummeled the tank with blows from her spear, driving him to the ground.

“Bobby!” The mage yelled and Darx could feel the crackle of another electricity spell charging up. The mage never managed to cast it. Darx heard the thud of impact and turned to see Wendy on top of the now magicless mage, pummeling him with her bare fists. Darx turned back to see the tank surrender with Neku’s blade against his throat. Wendy stood up, spit some blood on the ground and said some colorful words to the man on the ground beneath her. The mage just laid there, no longer conscious, his face bruised and bloody. Neku looked around, saw one of Estella’s crows and told her to alert the guard that there were some prisoners for them.