Raising Wonders

Chapter 13: Predetermined Chaos. (Part 1)

Chapter 13: Predetermined Chaos.

Chloe held her sword in front of her. She breathed the cold air to calm herself, eyes focused. The women that stood before her wasn't armed, and looked down at with a confident smirk. Her black hair tied in a ponytail reached her waist. Despite the cold, her clothing seemed too thin. A blouse, vest and leather pants. There had to be something more to her dress.

"Yoi!" the Handler struck down with her hand. Chloe tried to react but not fast enough as she soon felt a stiff force vibrate through her scalp.

She dropped her sword as she instead rubbed her head, "Damn it."

The Handler laughed, "Remember, Flow is all about concentration. The moment you get distracted is when you get struck. Even if you know all the techniques in the world, if you're too slow to react, you're dead. Are my clothes that distracting?"

Chloe looked up to her, "Aren't you cold?"

"Hmm not really," the Handler laughed. "Outside the walls I would be but this amount of chill is fine."

"What kind of fabric is that?" Chloe asked as she observed the cloth from closer up.

"It's not the fabric. While they're quite resistant to damage in their own way, the reason I'm not cold is me," she nodded proudly. "When you learn how to use your Aura you can use it to help control your body temperature. I may only be in the Advanced level but when it comes down to using Aura in unique ways, you could count me as a Master."

"Could you teach me how to do that?" Chloe's curiosity peaked.

The Handler laughed and plonked her hand on the small girl's head, "Not yet. Your body isn't ready for Aura yet. You need some more muscle or else it'll only cause you pain. For now keep training. From what I can see you've taken to Strike and Flare pretty well. Those styles are mostly offensive. Flow is mostly defensive. It'll take longer to learn, but don't give up!"

"I won't!" she smiled wholeheartedly. This was Chloe's chance to prove herself and she savoured each moment. Though it was frightening at first, her kidnapping was almost becoming the best thing that had happened to her.

The door to the courtyard burst open, Mask stood at the door, expression stern, "Quick come inside, there's news."

The two quickly entered the Guild where a large group had already gathered. It was still relatively early and all eyes were on a man who seemed to have just arrived. His breathing was ragged, and was covered in sweat.

Guild Master Lanton stood in front of him, "What did you just say?"

"The City Lord is dead!" the man spoke fervently. "It's not a lie. The Council Hall called an emergency meeting."

Lana who stood nearby creased her brow in concern, "Are you sure he's not just injured?"

"No, it was confirmed. They didn't say what happened but it's true."

"Shit," one of the new adventurers swore. "Where does that leave us?"

"Do you think things will get better?" another asked.

"Then who's leading the city?" the voice quickly began to overlap.

Master Lanton stomped the stone floor causing the entire hall to shake, "Enough. Whether the City Lord lives or not does not change what we do here. Think about what you have all achieved these past few months. You had next to nothing but together you built a life even in the despair of winter. We continue to do our work. We continue to help the city where they need us. Yes we may have more work to do, but we cannot let confusion spread. Do you understand?"

The adventurers looked at each other unsure how to respond. What Master Lanton had said to them made sense, but their hearts had been shaken from the news. Mask nudged Chloe who was standing beside him. She looked up at him confused, only to see him nod and a smile emanate from his mask.

Chloe stepped forward, "Why are you all hesitating?" She immediately had their attention. All of them older than her, she held down her reaction to hideaway. "Before I came here I knew nothing about adventuring and neither did any of you! But over the past few months you all kept coming back. Like you I learnt so much and I found something amazing. Don't you want to keep holding on to that?"

Their eyes softened upon hearing Chloe's voice. They simply needed one more push.

Mask swept Chloe off her feet and held her in his arms, "She's right you know. You've all grown enough to be called true Adventurers. Chloe and I will one day leave this city, but this is your home. I'd like for this city to still be here when I visit next. You made it this far without the City Lord's help, you can go much further as well."

A sudden yell of energy erupted from one of the new adventurers. She clapped her hands, "Mr Kane and Chloe are right! I came here at first so my kids wouldn't starve, but the work we do here is unlike any other. The people need us!"

A chorus responded. Many were still apprehensive, fearful even. A light however had been driven into their eyes and hearts. They had faced bad news before, they would face it again no matter how many times.

"Let's go then," another adventurer yelled above the others. "There are people all over the city who are confused and scared. It's our time now to help them. We don't need a Lord to lead us. We can do that ourselves!" With his words the adventurers quickly began to disperse, their goal to settle the apprehension certain to plague the city.

As they left Mask nodded to Chloe, "Good work."

"I just said what I could," she replied shyly.

"Yes, thankyou indeed," Master Lanton breathed relieved. "For a moment I thought I'd lost them. Things are going to get worse before they get better. What this city needs is a pillar to lean on. We'll become that pillar."

Mask grinned, "Then how about we set that pillar down for good?"

"Oh, what are you planning?" the Guild Master was intrigued.

"You'll see."