30 Chapter 30- Cleansing (1/2)
The party waved goodbye to Aria and her son, and they outwardly acted grateful for the assistance they had received. Dubs knew that the son was putting on a show, and that he was glad to be rid of the mercenaries who were receiving discounted prices, but gave a fake wave back anyways.
”You are on the naughty list...”, Dubs thought.
The trip back to Lardis was long and tedious, however this time around it was uneventful. No thieves or other entities attacked the group, and they were able to progress through the tunnels safely all the way back to the city.
Upon arrival in the city, Dubs split off from the party and went looking around to see if there were any shops of interest in Lardis, but after looking for a while, Dubs determined that he didn't know enough yet about how useful any materials or items would be to risk purchasing something.
”Money isn't too much of an issue, but I have no idea whether or not the shopkeepers are trying to get me to buy useless goods.”, Dubs thought.
After returning back to the mercenary guild, Dubs walked through the tavern to see the familiar faces of mercenaries who were there before the party had left.
The balding man was relaxing with his feet kicked back, and Harold was drunk in the corner. Clearly he had not recuperated from the beatdown Samuel had given him.
”Ay! Welcome back rookie. How did the first mission go?”, the balding man asked.
Dubs took a seat across from the man and began to speak. ”Nothing out of the ordinary. A simple escort, there were some thieves along the way but they proved to not be an issue.”
The man sat up straight. ”Hoh? You had to deal with some thieves on your first mission eh? For a veteran like me, that wouldn't be an issue but I'm surprised a group of rookies would be able to handle them so easily.”, the man stated, impressed.
Dubs gave off a shrug and humbly suggested ”We had five people to deal with only two thieves, and they weren't very experienced thieves at that. Our luck was good.”
The man laughed and Dubs took his leave, heading back down into the resistance HQ.
Coming upon Ivan, Ivan pulled Dubs aside for a report.
”I'm getting some odd mission reports from the other party members. They seem to be telling me that Drodus displayed a magical capacity unlike anything they have seen before. Do you have an explanation for this?”
Alt came out of Dubs into his shadow form, and before Dubs could respond, he realized that he himself was inside the shadow form.
”What is this!? Whats going on?”, Dubs shouted.
”Relax, Dubs. I merely switched out with you. You're in the shadow body right now, and I am in the regular body. It will be easier to explain to Ivan this way.”
Ivan stared at Dubs body, who Alt was in, and somewhat had an idea of what was going on. Even though he could not sense the shadow body that Dubs was currently inhabiting, he could tell that Dubs and Alt had switched and that they were conversing with one another.
”I assume you are the other one?”, Ivan asked.
Alt smiled, and responded.
”I am Alt, the alternate personality of Dubs. Over the past week of training we have managed to make significant progress, and I am even able to create and maintain a physical form separate from the body that I am currently inhabiting. Dubs is currently in this 'shadow form' of mine, and only me and Dubs can view it.”
Ivan listened patiently, and urged Alt to continue.
”In my new shadow form, I am able to release energy and control magic much better than before. While things aren't completely stable, I am beginning to get a grasp on my energy. Dubs, on the other hand, should be able to control a bit more energy than he did previously.”, Alt explained.