Chapter 4: Chapter 3 – Into the old sewer system. A narrow fight.

Just as they both finished and were about to depart, however, they heard a commotion outside.

 Slam* "Search the area! Find that book!"

From behind the door of the private room, the sound of a door slamming open and the angry shouts of a middle-aged man could be heard.

Knock* Knock* Knock*

At the same time, the private room door was knocked on three times in a hurry.

"Shit! Jack, lock the door!" - Rethoc cursed and crawled under the table.

Jacque wasn't slow on the uptake, and he immediately rushed to the door and locked it with three different metal locks on it. And as a finishing touch, he also added a thick wooden bar held by two metal parts. With these, it would take some time for even a strongman to kick open the door.

Bam* Bam* Bam* "By the holy decree of the divine order of Qagtuna, open this door this instant!" - Someone demanded while knocking hard on the door.

Jacque took two weary steps back and looked behind him. Under the table, he saw an open hatch with Rethoc silently motioning him to enter.

Jacque didn't run to the hatch right away; instead, he ran to get his leather package.

"Hurry!" - Rethoc urged with sweat starting to form on his forehead.

"Kick the door open!" - Someone commanded from outside.

BANG*

The sturdy oaken door shook as someone kicked at it. Luckily for Jacque and Rethoc, the locks served their purpose and barred the door firmly, buying much-needed time.

Jacque didn't waste time and rushed under the table and into the hatch, dropping the package inside and climbing down a wooden ladder. The hidden tunnel was narrow and ill-lit, barely reinforced with some wood so that the earth around them won't collapse on top of them.

Rethoc quickly followed Jacque into the escape tunnel and closed the hatch, leaving the tunnel lit only by the light escaping through the hatch's planks. To buy extra time, he also secured the hatch with a one-sided metal lock.

The hidden escape tunnel wasn't too deep, only a dozen feet deep. As soon as he stepped onto the ground, the first thing Jacque did was pick up the leather package.

"Damn crazy zealots." - Cursed Rethoc as he stepped on the dirty ground.

"I knew you said that it was hot merchandise, but not THIS hot." - Jacque said begrudgingly while brushing away some of the dirt off his package, already regretting the recent deal.

"Less whining and more running away, aye?" - Rethoc said snappily as he passed by Jacque and picked up an oiled torch from the wall.

"Can you light it?" - Rethoc said as he showed the un-lit torch to Jacque.

"Snap* [Flint]." - Jacque napped his fingers and said, and the torch ignited, lighting up the tunnel in orange light. Like [Clean], it was considered one of the most basic and common cantrips out there.

"Wish I had a bit of magic talent. That's mighty useful." - Rethoc commented as he turned around and started walking through the tunnel, Jacque in tow.

"HACK OPEN THE DOOR!" - A furious shout sounded from upstairs, and with it, the sound of metal hacking at wood echoed.

"Shit! We don't have much time before they reach us." - Rethoc cursed as he advanced through the tunnel, soon reaching another thick oaken door, only this time locked from their side.

"Where does this tunnel lead us?" - Jacque asked while hugging his package, looking around inquisitively.

"The old sewer system of the old district, now known as the slums." - Rethoc answered as he unlocked and opened the door, releasing a stale stench from behind it.

"C'mon." - He motioned with the hand holding the torch.

Jacque did as he said and entered through the door, with Rethoc closing the door behind them. Rethoc then placed the torch in a holder on the wall and started locking the door from their side.

Meanwhile, Jacque took the time to take out his enchanted pouch from his robe and placed the package near its mouth. The mouth suddenly grew wide, swallowing the whole package inside.

Just as Jacque placed back the now slightly heavier pouch into his robe, Rethoc finished locking the door and took the torch from the wall.

"Alright, follow me. And be careful, there might be some monsters and unruly sorts lurking around here." - Rethoc said as he held the torch in his left hand, with his right hand drawing a short sword from his waist.

"Monsters? Unruly sorts?" - Jacque frowned and asked.

"Yeah. For monsters, other than the occasional hungry rat swarms, you can expect Ratmen, Sludge Slimes, Giant Insects, some Amphibious Monsters, Giant Bats, and whatever else like humid and dark places. As for the unruly sort? Expect not-so-friendly thieves and smugglers, or that occasional crazed homeless. Oh, right, and possibly undead. That said, the sewers are used frequently as smuggling routes, and since the sewer isn't being used there is no food for the monsters except fungi, which means that monster encounters are rare." - Rethoc explained keeping a vigilant eye on the surroundings.

"That said... I am more worried about other people than monsters." - He added.

"I see..." - Jacque nodded in affirmation and prepared himself to cast a [Fire Bolt] on a moment's notice.

"Oh, and watch out for slippery or missing flooring. Don't want you to slip and fall, now do we?" - Rethoc added as he took a big step over a missing brick on the floor.

Jacque listened to the experienced middle-aged rogue and took careful steps over any obstacles he found. In the meantime, he also glanced at his surroundings and searched for anything abnormal.

The sewers were made as a labyrinth of large and 30ft wide semi-cylindrical tunnels, with water flowing between two raised sidewalks. Also, although the old sewer smelled moldy, it wasn't too horrible of a stench. The large sewer tunnels mainly drained excess rainwater, instead of human waste. However, the tunnel in the old sewer system was not in use, leaving it with only some rainwater to wash. What was worthy of note were some of the fungi and moss growing around, with some of it glowing, creating a subterranean world.

From time to time, Jacque saw a lone rat or two with shining red eyes in the dark. He also saw a light-brown slime on the other sidewalk the size of his torso, mindlessly crawling to wherever its base instincts may take it.

After taking a few turns in the dark maze, Rethoc suddenly paused and looked around warily, "Did you hear that?"

"Hm? No." - Jacque frowned and replied and started looking around, his body turning tense.

Tack*

"DUCK!" - Rethoc shouted and jumped to the ground.

Swish* Thud*

Although Jacque wasn't as experienced as Rethoc, he still managed to react in time due to becoming tense prior and managed to crouch just in time for something to swish an inch above his head and hit the wall above him.

"Ambush! 3 Oclock!" - Rethoc said while looking at a dark corner on the other side of the sewer drainage.

Jacque also looked over and saw four armed men coming out of a dug-out wall in the sewer, with one of them reloading a crossbow!

"C'mon, boys! Kill and loot them!" - The bandit who looked like the leader, holding a fine iron sword and leather armor yelled as he charged into the boot-deep water, followed by two other goons while the last one continued reloading his crossbow.

"Shit! Jack, defend yourself!" - Rethoc shouted at Jacque as he threw his torch to the side and held his shortsword in a defensive position.

Meanwhile, Jacque analyzed the situation and figured out the best course of action.

"Take out the crossbowman first, handle the rest later."

He quickly found a crumpled stone weighing around 2 pounds on the pavement on the other side, pointed at it with his index and middle fingers, and then motioned at the crossbowman.

As if shot by a ballista, the stone shot right at the crossbowman before anyone could react, hitting the crossbowman right on his undefended temple.

*Crunch

As the stone hit him, the crossbowman's skull issued a crunch and he fell to the ground, his life and death unknown.

That spell was called [Vector throw], a 1st circle spell of the transmutation school. 

"Nice shot! Hahaha!" - Rethoc laughed and charged at the leader, trying to buy as much time as he can for his physically weaker teammate.

"Shit! A mage! Kill him first!" - The leader ordered his men as he charged at Rethoc, soon clashing swords with him.

Clang* Clang* Clang*

While they clashed sword against sword, the two goons charged and reached 13 ft away from Jacque.

"Die, you bastard!" - One of them shouted as he brandished his iron cutlass, ready to strike.

Just then, Jacque who already straightened himself pointed at the duo with his right hand. His middle and ring fingers pressed against his thumb as he silently recited.

"Burn those who stand before me, [Cone Of Flames]!"

As he finished reciting, his fingers parted, and with it, orange fire emerged and blossomed.

"Shit! Dodge!" - One of the thugs shouted as he jumped to the side, right into the dirty water, but the other thug was a step too slow.

A cone of orange fire emerged from Jacque's fingers, barely singing the thug who jumped into the water but engulfed the other one.

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"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" - A heartrending scream sounded from the flames as the thug blindly waved his hands in a vain struggle to stop the intense pain.

Tsss*

The cone of flames lasted for two seconds, reaching around 15 ft before stopping. Steam rose from the water, as the thug continued his blind struggle before plummeting into the water, falling silent and inanimate.

"Ha... Ha..." - Jacque panted, slightly exhausted from using two 1st-circle spells one after the other.

"Fucking mage! Die!" - Just then, the thug who dodged charged at him with his scimitar, already 3ft away and swinging his sword.

Just then, Jacque raised his left hand in the direction of the thug, and a transparent film suddenly covered him.

Clang* Crack*

The scimitar struck the film, creating large cracks in it.

"Shit!" - The bandit cursed and tried to strike again, but the next moment, he saw Jacque pointing his palm at him and uttering two words.

"[Fire Bolt]!"

As soon as he finished, a bolt of fire shot right out of his hand, engulfing the thug's face.

Bang*

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!" - The thug screamed in pain, but even as his face was melting, he didn't stop swinging his scimitar and struck the film again. This time, the transparent shield broke right as Jacque jumped back and pointed at the thug again.

"[Fire Bolt]!"

Bang*

"Argh! I WILL KILL YOU!" - The bolt of fire hit the man's torso this time, burning it as well, but the man still didn't pause as if he has gone berserk, ignoring his grievous and somewhat deadly injuries, and swung his scimitar at Jacque's neck.

"Crap!" - Jacque wasn't prepared and accidentally slipped backward, narrowly and luckily dodging the scimitar that was swung at him, but falling hard on his back and hitting his head on the pavement he stood on.

Thud*

Jacque's vision turned blurry as he saw the man swinging his scimitar overhead.

"DIIIEEEEE!!!!!" - The bandit shouted.

Chop*

The next moment, however, his movement paused, since his sword hand was chopped off. In a daze, the bandit turned around, only to be impaled through his chest.

"G-Gah..." - The bandit uttered numbly as the sword in his gut was twisted before being pulled.

Splash*

The bandit fell into the dirty water, dead.

Jacque blurrily saw the figure of his savior, Rethoc, who was panting and had a small bleeding slash wound on his left arm.

"Hah... Hah... You okay, Jack?" - Rethoc used the dirty sewer water to wash the blood off his sword, sheathing it before offering his hand to Jacque.

Jacque took his hand and got up.

"My head hurts like a bitch, but otherwise fine. You?" - He said, holding the aching back of his head while looking at the middle-aged man's bleeding arm.

"It's fine, just a shallow wound, been through worse in my adventurer days. But if you have a disinfectant and clean bandage, that would be great." - Rethoc said tiredly.

"You were an adventurer? I didn't know that." - Jacque said as he cast [Clean] on both of them, removing most of the putrid water and filth covering them, before taking out his pouch and shoving his hand inside, taking out a metal jar as well as a tiny glass bottle with translucent liquid.

"Antiseptic cream and distilled alcohol." - Jacque handed the jar and bottle to Rethoc, who opened them and applied them to his wound.

In the meantime, Jacque also took out a clean linen bandage and clip and started to bandage Rethoc.

"Damn, Jack. You are as prepared as an adventurer, carrying even stuff like that with you." - Rethoc couldn't help but comment.

"Better safe than sorry." - Jacque answered as he clipped the bandage in place.

"I am really surprised that you can even bandage a wound. I thought you were just some pampered rich son of a merchant and a wizard, unbothered by things like this."

"I always dreamt of one day being an adventurer when I was a kid, so my father had a retired adventurer teach me some tricks. At least I won't panic in a fight or the sight of blood." - Jacque said as he looked at the fresh or burnt corpses, feeling a bit sick from his first time killing someone. Rather two.

"So I have seen. You handled yourself pretty well back there, and your quick thinking is good, definitely adventurer material." - Rethoc nodded in agreement.

"And this can be considered your very first adventure, hehe!" - Rethoc added with a chuckle.

Jacque shook his head, "I am just after knowledge now, not glory."

"Seeking knowledge is also part of being an adventurer." - Rethoc commented, but then paused and looked at the downed crossbowman.

"Can you cast more of that stone-throwing and the flame cone thing?"

"One more 1st circle spell, and then only cantrips." - Jacque commented.

The [Fire Bolt] spell was considered a cantrip, and its power was limited compared to a 1st circle spell. Its advantage, however, was that its mana cost was relatively negligible, so a magic-user can cast a hundred of those at the cost of a single 1st circle spell.

Rethoc nodded and marched to the downed crossbow bandit and checked if he is dead. After confirming his death, he took the crossbow, a leather bag of bolts, as well as a coin pouch, and came back with the loot.

"Can you shoot a crossbow?" - Rethoc asked as he loaded the crossbow.

"A bit. It has been more than 4 years since I last shot one." - Jacque answered honestly.

"As long as you don't shoot at me or yourself, all is good." - Rethoc said as he handed over the crossbow to Jacque.

Jacque picked the crossbow and weighed it. It was small and light, around  5lb in weight, and the bolts and holder weighed another 2lb.

In the meantime, Rethoc took his time and looted the other three corpses from their unwanted worldly possessions, namely, coin pouches.

He then looked a bit reluctantly at the weapons they had, as each sword can fetch ten to fifteen gold pieces.

Jacque caught his look and offered, "Want me to carry them?"

"You will? How? Wait, now that I think about it, where is your package?" - Rethoc asked, only now noticing that Jacque didn't have his package with him.

Jacque took his pouch and waved it as an answer.

"... Damn wizards."

After Jacque took the bandits' weapons and placed them in his pouch, adding another 9lb to its total weight, and 0.9lb to its carrying weight, Jacque asked, "Want me to carry the pouches too?"

Rethoc considered for a moment before handing them over as well, "Thanks. We will do an even split later."

"Sure." - Jacque readily agreed. His father always told him that more money never hurts.

"Alright, let's hurry up before the goody-two-shoes catch up with us." - Rethoc walked and picked up the torch from the ground and continued walking.

They both continued their journey for another five minutes before Rethoc came to a halt near a moss-covered area. Rethoc then grabbed at the moss and pulled it aside lightly, revealing a door lock with a keyhole.

"Alright, we're here. Through this door is an escape hole of the thieves guild. Those temple fellows won't find those places." - Rethoc explained as he pulled a keychain out of his pocket and inserted one of the keys into the keyhole, turning it and opening the door.

"There we go. After you." - Rethoc motioned.

Jacque entered the room, and Rethoc covered the keylock with moss again, before closing the door and locking it from their side.

After that, they both walked through a small tunnel with a ladder and a key-locked hatch. Rethoc took the lead and climbed up to the hatch and took out another key, opening the hatch and climbing out into a dimly-lit room, followed by Jacque.

Jacque's magic items.

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