Astral Flow

Chapter 21

Who was Hellfang Teach?

This question had been bouncing around in Ryder's mind all day and night, it seemed like he wasn't the same character as in the beta test or even offline version of the game.

What could they expect, what differences would there be? Would the story still remain the same, was he truly unredeemable?

Could there be some big secret they were missing-

"Ryder, you alright?" Oto's calm voice spoke, causing the champion to look towards him.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" he replies without much thought, having easily been snapped out of his thoughts.

"No reason really, you just had a surprisingly serious look on your face." Oto replies, looking ahead again. "So, this merchant... she's already setting up?"

With a nod Ryder focused on the path ahead of them again, they'd been heading to the clearing south of Jules Village.

The trail was stamped flat from all the people who'd walked ahead of the duo, preparing for the brunt of the oncoming attack.
"Yeah, supposedly she's one of the more important NPCs according to Aranea." he pauses and pulls out his notebook. "Her name is... Delvia, she's a Northern Isen-"

Oto raises a hand. "All I needed was the name..." with a sigh he shakes his head. "I didn't expect to see that shorty so soon, if her supplies are as good as the beta then we're in good hands."

"What, is she that good of a vendor?" Ryder asks, his interest now piqued as he puts the book away.

"Best merchant in all of Terminus apparently, her shop had insane loot, like boss weapons and hard to find items." Oto crosses his arms, remembering all the items she sold. "Hell she'd even sell scrolls that could call down meteors!"

"Wait, seriously?! What the hell was a merchant like that doing in the beginning area now?!" Ryder nearly yells out of surprise, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Oto shrugs a bit, his focus now being on the nearby sounds of hammers banging away. "No clue, only thing I can think of is she'd have come looking for some of the more unique treasures, after all the NPCs do seem more alive now."

"True..." Ryder stops and looks towards the source of the noise, surprised to see barricades being built as quickly as possible.

Dozens of figures running back and forth as quickly as possible, trying to get defenses set up for the battle, cannons being hauled into position.

In the middle of everyone was a small purple haired girl yelling commands at the workers, eagerly getting everything ready.

Even Aranea and Regis seemed to be listening to her commands.

"That's probably her." Ryder comments, getting a sigh of confirmation from Oto who begins walking ahead.

It was surprising to Ryder, seeing all these forces grouped up in one place, preparing to deal with an all out war.

Were there really so many people willing to put their lives on the line for this?

Slowly he caught up to Oto who'd already begun his conversation with the small merchant, a less than pleasant look on his face.

"-so that's the plan? I'm just going to sit back until I'm needed?" Oto asks, disbelief and slight annoyance lingering in his voice. "I could help everyone else defend at least-"

"No can do, hot shot!" Deliva's voice was surprisingly sweet, yet held a small controlling tone in it. "We can't have you going and getting hurt, not before you're actually needed... that's if the knight in shining armor there can't handle it himself."