Thame was woken up by the yelling of seagulls and what he assumed to be dock workers. He lied on the ground, surrounded by spilled paint and a thin layer of salt water on his skin, but at least they had made it soundly.
Slightly taken aback, he quickly recovered his painting supplies and closed his suitcase back up, leaving his cabin to be greeted by Lin looking towards him with her hands on her hips.
"Ya up sleepy head?"
"Y-yes..." He stammered, walking towards her. "Is everyone already up?"
"Mhmmm! Ya know ya sleep the heaviest!" She giggled as she followed Thames up.
He just shook his head, the sun shining down on him.
They had made it out of the storm and arrived at Ariao, a port city in the Werone Kingdom. The sky was a beautiful blue, lacking clouds and allowing the sun to beat down brilliantly. The waves seem to have softened through the night.
The city itself was tucked into the coast, protected by the land and was well populated. It had quickly become a major city in Werone as it found itself at the center of trade.
It also received help from other countries, the Indira Republic in specific. Being a capital of technology, it greatly influenced the port city, and allowed it to flourish, and allowing it to stick out from other Werone Kingdom cities.
Thames followed Lin off of the ship and onto the dock, meeting up with Ode, Rubes, and Fredrick. The sun shined on them brilliantly, but the frigid air of December chilled them. The city was made up mostly of stone, faint steam emitting from some chimneys.
"How long you gonna be gone, Fredrick?" Ode quickly asked
He sighed, looking towards the city then at Ode. "Not too long! Where are you guys headed?"
"We'll stay here for a while. I heard rumors about Emergents."
Lin, Thames, and Rubes continued to walk as Ode and Fredrick stopped, looking at each other.
After a few moments of silence between the two, Ode hugged the old friend and watched him walk away, eventually entering a carriage.
Quickly, Ode jogged up to the other three and began to talk as they turned the corner.
"So! Word is that Emergents have gotten bad 'round here!" He glanced towards Thames, making eye contact with him.
Rubes quickly asked, "Where specifically?"
"I dunno... That's why we got here fast! I also wanna investigate any other magicians here, see what we'll have to deal with."
Rubes nodded, agreeing with him as Lin piped up. "When'll we start lookin'?"
"Tomorrow! Get some shut eye after we eat today." Ode cheerfully said, leading the group into an inn.
It stunk of alcohol like a bar and was full of patrons. They were clearly from different locations, some wearing heavy fur clothes, some wearing traditional suits, and some tinkering with strange technology.
Ode walked up to the inn keeper, a tall orc with an axe to either of his sides. "Four rooms for two weeks."
Smoke left the orcs mouth as he responded, "Sixteen gold notes."
Ode awkwardly reached into his coat, pulling out a stack of gold notes dramatically and set sixteen on the counter. The orc took the money and set four keys with numbers attached to them.
"Head up the stairs to your left."
"Mmmkay!" He tossed a key to each of them as he leaned onto the counter. "What's the best meal ya got?"
Taking a puff out of a pipe, the orc responded slowly. "Meat stew. Three copper each bowl."
In a similar fashion to the gold bills, he counted out twelve copper bills and gave them to the orc, then walked to a table.
Sitting down, Ode and Rubes put their wands onto the table, all four silent.
It was a process they were all familiar with. Ode would flaunt his money then Rubes and Ode would effectively announce they were magicians, hoping that someone similar would come up to them.
And, like always, one did.
Thames glanced to his side and noticed that a woman with scales up her neck and on her cheeks walked up to them. Staring straight at the wands, she looked around then sat down.
"Are you guys' magicians?" Her tone was frantic, like she was in danger.
Ode continued to smile, but his three team members had grown serious.
"And if we are?" He carefully asked.
"There's more of you..." The woman continued, "Other magicians rule the night..."
"We can deal with em." Ode replied simply, the lady walking off afterward.
Thames shared a worried look with Lin, and Ode spoke up.
"There's one of our leads! We'll still get sleep tonight, though! Then we'll head out tomorrow."
As he finished, the bowls of stew were delivered.
It was a dark broth full of potatoes and carrots but had very little meat despite the name. This was common, however, and the group had gotten used to it. Most inns that they could go unnoticed in lacked the funds to be filling stews up with meat.
After discussing plans over dinner, the four got up and went to their rooms.
They had decided to split the city into four parts, each making themselves known in their respective areas. Before Lino this would've been a foolish idea, but Lin and Thames had grown to be able to hold their own.
Towards the end of the discussion, Ode shared a look that Thames was familiar with. He wanted him to hang out at night, attempting to find anything.
It was a shabby room. The bed was a mess and consisted of rough cloth and the nightstand kept getting stuck whenever he'd try to open or close the drawers.
After changing into heavier black clothes, Thames opened the window carefully and climbed up onto the roof. Luckily, his room was the highest floor. He wasn't lucky often, which would lead to awkward exchanges with inn keepers as he left in heavier clothes than he entered in.
Under the moon, he took in the smoke and steam that blanketed the port city, salt water intermingled with the various pollutants. Thames looked around the skyline, but didn't notice anything out of place.
"[Teleport.]"
A spell he learned shortly after Lino, he reappeared on another rooftop which gave him better access to the city.
Looking again, he was able to see the port from where he stood. It was mostly quiet, a few guards patrolling the docked ships, but this was perfect for him.
But just as he moved closer to watch the ships, he felt the energy around him shift.
A disgusting stench, foreign to this plane, invaded his nostrils. It was an indescribable scent, but one he was used to. The scent of an Emergent, and based off how bad it was, it was clear this was a powerful one.
He looked around frantically, searching for a shaded place in the lit-up city, and noticed the figure.
In an alleyway stood a massive behemoth. Its body was misshapen like clay that had been molded by a toddler. It possessed two crooked legs and stood upright, its two massive arms propping itself against the buildings that made the alleyway.
The Emergent looked into the sky, the moon reflecting off its shiny void skin, its maw opened revealing rows and rows of sharpened multicolored teeth.
But before Thames could react, he noticed a person approaching the alleyway.
Shit! They can't handle that!
He silently cursed at his slowness, running towards the edge of the building.
As he went to jump, he heard the person utter something.
"[Judgement Javelin.]"
The air above the Emergent glistened as a rift formed, from it a white javelin projectile was shot out. It was at least five meters in length and completely pierced the creature, skewering it into the ground.
A purplish black liquid trickled from the creature's body, slowly forming into a crystal as the unidentified man took it.
A magician... But not from the tower.
Thames confirmed, completely unfamiliar with the spell, but it reminded it of something he once heard during his travels.
A white weapon from a rift... It can't be!
Making it down to the street, he crossed it towards the person, eager to ask them something, but just as the Emergent vanished the weapon and the magician did as well, leaving Thames in the alleyway.
They're definitely related to them...
He quickly thought to himself as he climbed back onto a nearby rooftop, resuming his nighttime patrol.