Unnatural Mutations

"Are you alright? Do you need any anti toxin?" Vegaror asked Lariss as we got closer.

"No, I'm good. I already used what you gave me earlier. Right now I just need a bath." Lariss replied.

Even though she started far away from where the battle was supposed to take place, the spray from the tail got on some of her armor as it had moved closer to her position.

"That seemed a little more powerful than the other monsters." Uhtric said.

"It must have been a variant that was closer to B rank. But there was no need to worry, we've taken care of three near B ranked monsters before and that was without Adalgard." I said as I stepped up to Vegaror.

Monster ranking was based on a party of four adventurers in the middle of that rank being able to kill the monster with minimal injury and no deaths. A team of four near the bottom of the rank should still be able to kill it without deaths but with greater injury and effort. Kay and Sundri were average C rankers but the rest of us were closer to B rank.

I lowered my voice as I passed over the bottles of blood and venom. "Even then, something wasn't right about that thing." He took them and gave me a knowing look as he nodded. I didn't see Thelora pass over her bottles.

Before we could leave the main festival area, we were stopped by Holy Knight Commander Renata. She pulled me off to the side to have a quick chat.

"It was good to finally see you in action. I was a little disappointed when you had to drop out of the melee tournament, especially since I missed your matches." She asid.

"Thank you, though this was a team effort." I replied.

"Of course it was. I'm hoping the two of us can have a little chat. Some of your friends have been moving around at night and I'd like to know why." She said.

"I'm not really sure who you think my friends are but I don't know anything about people moving around at night." I replied.

"Of course you don't. Come look for me when you change your mind. I can tell that you're not as fallen as others, I can help you out in that regard." She left after that.

She wasn't a part of the group that Turnus was in and didn't seem to know what they were doing. But knew enough that it had to do with the criminal underworld that she thought I was a part of.

Back at camp we all changed and prepared baths. With Adalgard being a part of the Silver Tongues, we were able to use their facilities. There were high canvas walls separating two areas with a number of baths by gender.

"Now Wilmaer, I know you're going to be tempted, but try to not peek into the woman's bath. We are shy maidens after all." Thelora said before entering the woman's area.

"Yeah, keep your eyes to yourself." Lariss said.

"I'll try my hardest to resist." I said.

"I, for one, would like to see you try." Adalgard said.

Once we were in the men's area I saw Sundri inspecting the canvas that divided the two areas.

"You really shouldn't do that. It will besmirch the honor of our team." Kay said.

I didn't say anything. There was a good chance either Thelora or Lariss was going to catch him right away. Besides I saw a few runes on the edges of the canvas.

"It is our duty as men to try and spy on the fairer gender while in the bath." Sundri said with his head held high.

"It would be if we were 12." I replied.

He ignored us and placed a finger near the canvas as he prepared a spell. Sure enough as his spell hit the canvas, the runes lit up and there was a bright flash. Sundri fell backwards blinking rapidly.

"Sundri, I hope you're prepared for the consequences of your actions." Thelora yelled from the other side.

"It wasn't me, that was Wilmaer." He quickly replied.

"Don't worry he's going to be punished for not trying to peek." She responded.

It took nearly a minute for Sundri to regain his ability to see fully. After we were done we rejoined the crowd at the festival grounds. Most of the other teams had already gone by the time we arrived but we made it to see the team from the Rainbow Blades.

Their monster wasn't a manticore but a jordr bear. The ground rippled around it with every step it took. It was twice the size of a regular brown bear and along its body were what looked like plate armor made of rock.

Kalfr was the first to engage even though they had a better armored adventurer with them. From the rear Fulvia fired off arrows and next to her was Vesta who used her magic to control the earth around the bear while also firing off Ice Lances.

In a matter of minutes the earthen bear was dead. It was quicker than the other teams we saw before we went. The Burnished axes were closed in terms of time. Last was a team from Hela's Vanguard that didn't do as well. They still killed the jordr bear but most of their team was injured and it took them a while. No one on their team was able to control the earth around the bear like Vesta, leaving their melee without firm footing.

After lunch the B ranked teams would begin. Borhildr found us while we were on our way back to the festival grounds to inform us that we had made it into the finals. The other three C ranked teams were the Burnished Axes, the former Union Master's disciples, and the Vesta's team from the Rainbow Blades.

"Wilmaer you really need to talk to Raginhard. He's a part of the team that changes the grounds but won't tell me anything about the third competition. If I was your full time representative, I'd give you all the insider knowledge I could get my hands on." Borhildr said.

"Well then for the sake of my honor, let's hope you never become my full time representative." I replied.

"You can't possibly believe that any of the other teams aren't using every resource they have to find out what comes next? The mark of a good adventurer is being fully prepared and I just want what's best for all of you." She said.

"Whatever it is, we'll handle it as it comes. While adventurers need to be prepared beforehand they also need to be able to handle the unexpected." I replied.

"Spoken like a man of high honor. I guess I'll just keep everything I learned about tomorrow to myself." Floriana said from behind me.

"Wait, do you know what the third competition is?" Borhildr asked.

"I may have heard a few things but I would never allow Wilmaer's honor to be lowered just for a silly contest like this." Floriana said.

"She doesn't know anything. She's just trying to get under my skin." I said.

She stepped forward and whispered into my ear but it was loud enough for a blushing Lariss to hear. "We both know that's not what I like to get under." At the same time, I felt a piece of paper being pressed into my hand.

"I don't think we've been fully introduced. I'm this team's Union representative, Borhildr." She curtsied as spoke.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Floriana and a good friend of Wilmaer." She replied with a smaller curtsy.

"As his friend I'm sure you know all about Wilmaer. I might know a thing or two from representing him. How about we have a cup of tea and discuss our mutual acquaintances?" Borhildr said.

I could see the smile in Floriana's eyes as she tried to hold back her laughter. Borhildr wasn't even close to her league in terms of manipulation.

"Maybe another time. I have someone I need to meet and I just wanted to congratulate them on a job well done." She said before bidding goodbye.

We then made our way to the festival grounds to enjoy the B ranked teams. Part way through the first match I looked at the scrap of paper to see a list of ingredients. Even though I had a good idea what they were used for I still passed it to Thelora. After a brief glance she mouthed the word poison. Floriana was determined to get me involved in what was going on behind the scenes.

The B ranked monster fights were very good. The team work and abilities on display were amazing. Towards the end I got to see what a boergrunr was. It's horse-like body was pale white, it had the head of a vulture and wings to match, and its torso had an almost human appearance with an extra set of limbs on it that would grab at anyone it could with clawed three fingered hands.

None of the A rankers ended up fighting a dragon but there were two different subspecies of drakes. It was around dinner time that the monster fights wrapped up.

After splitting off from Kay, Sundri, and Borhildr, we made our way to the Flask and Anvil stall. Vegaror was in the back running some tests on the bottles I gave him.

"I haven't found much but I do know that someone gave that monster an unknown elixir before your fight. I have some guesses but I don't want to speculate too much." He said.

"Would any of these have been used in the elixir?" I handed over the list of ingredients.

"Hmm, yes, but that would mean… No one would… but it could." Vegaror started muttering to himself.

"Darling, maybe a few more words would be helpful." Uhtric said.

"Oh sorry. These ingredients are mostly used for poisons but with a few other ingredients that any alchemist would have on them, they could be used for different mixtures. The one that comes to mind was an experimental elixir that my master was working on years ago. He gave up since it was both too difficult and wildly unethical." Vegaror said.

"Would that elixir make monsters stronger?" I asked.

"It would. His plan was to capture weaker monsters and use the elixir to improve them. He'd kill them and have higher quality parts. In the end he couldn't get it to work, the monster would die in a matter of minutes and its organs would be worthless. Plus the cost didn't balance out. The improved monster parts wouldn't be worth more than the ingredients he was using." He replied.

"It sounds like someone completed your masters work. But why use it against us?" Adalgard asked.

"I don't think they were using it against us, since the manticore kept trying to get past us. It was determined to reach the VIP platform." I said.

"That would mean their target was the Duchess." Lariss said.

"Not necessarily. The Union Master and the Eldest of the Northern Coven were also there and have just as many enemies." Thelora said.

"But why use a C ranked monster? Any of those three could easily kill an A ranked monster single handedly plus they have a number of guards around them. One of the drakes would have been a better choice." I said.

"This isn't something we can handle. We need to tell Master Alfarund about this." Uhtric said.

"There's no need. They already know something is going on." I then filled them in on what I knew without going into detail about how I knew it.

"The Church would never do something this stupid. If a D ranked adventurer would find out about it, how could those in power not figure it out? No offense." Uhtric said.

"None taken but at least part of the Followers of the Holy Light here are up to something and they don't fully care who knows about it. Or maybe they are just that arrogant. As much as I would like to leave it to others, I think we also need to be prepared for any unexpected events in the near future." I said.

The others nodded in agreement.