Where our halfling learns about what happens when you touch strange crystals, and what happens when people get stuck between politics and a hard place.
"You touched the crystals? Ahahahahahaha!" Tobias interrupted Mica's story.
"Of course, we had to carr-"-Ahahahahahahaha- "-we had to CARR- "-AhhhaaaAHAHAHA!- "-Can you let me finish?" Mica grunted.
"Right, right. Sure." Tobias wiped his eyes.
"What's the big deal that we touched them, all we got are those weird scars." Mica removed his glove to show the strange, clean and precise cut running from his knuckle to the bottom of the hand.
Tobias gazed at the scar with a somewhat serious expression for just a moment before the smirk returned to his face.
"That's it," Tobias stated.
"That's what?" Mica stated.
Tobias chuckled and continued walking.
"What's going on?" Mica started shouting but realized what he was doing, and regained his cool.
Mica hurried after Tobias.
The human shook his head.
"Your palm, do you feel an itch?" Tobias motioned towards Mica.
"Yes..." Mica grew more suspicious by the minute.
"When you turn around, when's the itch least annoying?" Tobias glanced at him with a knowing expression.
Mica, although annoyed, played along as he figured this was the only viable way to get something out of his 'master'. He stood in place and started rotating himself slowly.
"Try to concentrate, too." The white-robed mage added, stopping his momentum forward as well.
He glanced at the red-black dressed halfling with a certain anticipation.
Beneath the mask, Mica closed his eyes and concentrated on the itch.
He tried to think of it like a scab you're told you can't itch, and just burns and begs to be touched, as you imagine ripping it off to a sense of relief- only this instance he really couldn't scratch the itch.
It was easy to concentrate on the itch for some reason, it felt almost like he was holding onto something physical on the edges of his fingertips. It was something rough, but it was grinding and itching beneath his nails, slipping away in some direction... There!
Mica looked up and pointed towards where they were going.
Tobias gazed forward, and then back at him, motioning him along with a smile that seemed genuine, for the first time.
"Something good came out of you, after all, let's go," Tobias commented.
***
By late evening the two arrived at the pier town of the island peninsula, and by what they could garner from the place, it seemed loud.
A lot of people were walking around the forests surrounding the town. Some looked as standoffish as they were, some seemed like people with nowhere to go and only the dirt on their clothes to call their own.
They found plenty of awkward stares following them as they ventured across the crowds.
The two passed quite a few groups of these people before Tobias led them close to one. With an older human gentleman who seemed to be followed by a few younger men.
YOU ARE READING
Zensuon: Crystal Age
FantasyIn a world where money can buy you literal power. A young halfling is out on the run for a crime he (probably) didn't commit. Joined by what seems to be a dim-witted orc, the duo has to brave various forces craving a powerful artifact known as the '...
