Wolfe made his way back out, avoiding the spots where he knew that there were traps and the worst of the Null Stone concentrations, to rejoin the Captain at the edge of the Ruins.
"Did you manage to get what you were after? There's a powerful barrier there, but I felt the power fade for a little while." She asked.
"Keep everyone away from that barrier. That's a [Soul Trap] set by a witch over Rank Three. Anyone who touches it will die. Not be harmed, nor burned. They will have their soul stripped away into vapour and be killed instantly. There is a Magi barrier inside that, but it's mostly irrelevant when the chances of anyone getting through the first barrier are nearly zero.
I did get what I came for, though. A memory crystal left behind by the Family that lived here, with a single spell in it. It might not sound like much, but it fulfils your agreement with me. It is a Relic of the Magi." He informed her.
"That's all that was there? I thought for sure that it would be something amazing with all the power that is leaking from the area." She sighed.
"The power is all from the Curse that killed the people in that building. They didn't have much on them, and most of what they did have has been wasted away over time. The Magi didn't put much stock in material items since they could make them so easily with Magic." Wolfe explained.
"Well, as long as you're happy with what you found, I guess that's fine. I just don't want to renege on my end of the deal because what was there was no good.
But if you got through the curse and got what was inside, does that mean that it's safe to go inside now?" She asked.
"Not in the least. The area is still littered with radioactive ammunition from the war, and the curse is active again. We only managed to shut it down for a few minutes." Wolfe sighed.
"We? Oh, right, the Familiar Cat is in your backpack. She's so quiet that I forgot about her there for a minute."
"She wore herself out bringing down the Curse long enough for me to get in and out, so she's having a little nap. But she's not really a people person anyhow. If she's affectionate with you, you're either sitting in the good spot, or you've got the food she wants." Wolfe joked.
[I'm not that bad. It's just that everyone wants to feed the friendly cat.] Stephanie replied in Wolfe's mind.
She wasn't really mad, and he wasn't really wrong. She really had adapted well to being a cat. If Wolfe didn't know better, he would think that she had always been a Familiar Cat, and her actions would leave him no reason to doubt her if she said that it was true.
"Are you leaving tonight, or will you stick around for the night?" The Captain asked politely, not giving Wolfe any hints as to whether she thought it was a good idea or not.
If the locals really believed the soldiers when they told them that he had been able to awaken witches who had no chance at using magic on their own, it could be bothersome. But common sense said that Demons wouldn't do that, so they would want to blame the Fae Forest instead, which would get him off the hook for at least one evening, so he wouldn't have to deal with anything too annoying.
"If you've got a hotel or a good place to sleep, I will stay the evening. If not, I will head back toward the Forest and stop in with one of the villages. They're always in need of something, and now that the Fae Forest is up, their scouts keep getting lost if they try to go in instead of waiting for one from inside the forest to come out."
"You can stay at my Family's house. We have lots of space, and I could use the distraction while I set up the Mana Gathering Array at my personal apartment.
If you're at my mom's place, everyone in town will think that the item must be there, while I will be setting it up at home and coming over later."
Wolfe nodded in agreement. "That works well for me. I like meeting new people. Plus, your family won't want to be disturbed, and I should be able to get an evening of peace."
The Captain laughed. "I wouldn't say that. You'll have to meet my family to understand that just because they keep outsiders from bothering you doesn't mean you're going to get a peaceful night. My mother seems to think that she's at least part rabbit, and the kids just keep coming."
Wolfe smirked. "You know, in the Frozen Wastes, being part rabbit isn't all that uncommon. They have cute fluffy ears, and they're really popular with the witches."
ƥandasnovel.com The Captain laughed. "I never thought about it that way. We've been at odds with them for so long that you don't really register them as fluffy or friendly, you know? But after seeing some of the ones that were around your Den in the Woods, I can see how the witches would get along well with them.
It's part of our genetics, I think. Or maybe it's a cultural love for furry things because of the respect for Familiars, but animal people just seem like natural allies when they're not attacking you."
She led the way to her family's home, where a middle-aged witch greeted them with a huge smile on her face and a plate of cookies in her hand.
The Witch's blue eyes sparkled with magic as she motioned for him to come in. "Welcome to our home. Wolfe, was it? It's a pleasure to meet you. The Sergeants were by earlier to explain the situation, and I do hope that you managed to get what you were after."
"I certainly did. But I would recommend that nobody heads to those ruins in the future. There is a very powerful curse active there, and I wouldn't want anyone to be accidentally killed. Plus, there's the radiation from the munitions still lying around. It's just generally unsafe." Wolfe informed her.
"Yes, we tell everyone to stay away, but you know how kids are. The more you tell them not to, the more they want to find out why it's forbidden." She sighed.
"Now, let me introduce you to the family."
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