The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Tul'mi POV

The next ten minutes were a blur as the stranger went around untying a few people before passing around several knives, swords, and axes; leaving the villagers to continue untying themselves while he stepped away and did his own thing.

Tul'mi was soon cut from her bindings by one of the others, after taking a moment to massage her wrists, she coordinated with the other freed guards who were by her; setting them to check in with each other in the field around them so she could get an idea of who was still ready for a fight.

Once that was done, she made her way over to the stranger as he quietly murmured to the cat on his shoulder. Before she could say anything, he glanced back at her and flashed a kind smile at her before speaking up. "You're looking a little unsteady on your feet there... Do you want me to tend to your wounds?"

She was a little taken aback by his question, though she wasn't sure what she was expecting of him in the first place. "I... Uh... Hold on." She said at first, needing a moment to gather her thoughts, her ears flicking as she considered something he said earlier. "You said you got our message, right? Does that mean..." She started to say, though she was unsure how to voice her thoughts when it came to her daughter. Tul'mi knew just how wounded Puh'ma was when she broke through the ranks of those foreign soldiers, she hoped for the best but was prepared for the worst considering the circumstances.

The stranger just flashed a kind smile as he gently scratched the cat's throat again. "Puh'ma is fine, I treated her wounds, got her stable, and left her with one of my familiars... Though she owes me a new glove and a shirt." He mused while chuckling softly as the cat hopped off his shoulder before seemingly vanishing into the stranger's shadow. "The first thing she did when I found her was fling a jar of acid at me, though to be fair she likely wasn't conscious of her actions in the state she was in."

Tul'mi was immediately relieved at the news, though she looked rather concerned at his comment as she looked at him curiously. "She did? And you're fine?"

The stranger just flashed a small smile at her question. "It'll take more than a few little acid burns to keep me down." He mentioned while turning his attention away as he began walking around to each of the bodies of the foreign soldiers, making them seemingly vanish into thin air.

Tul'mi was a little surprised, but she was more worldly than most around these parts and had seen feats of spatial magics similar to what the stranger was performing. "If you don't mind my asking, can you tell me who you are and what you're doing around these parts?" While she did feel a little bad about doubting the intentions of this mysterious stranger who swooped in out of nowhere and freed them; she hadn't heard of someone like him or even heard that someone like him was operating in the area.

The man glanced over at her as he flashed a seemingly knowing smirk before making another corpse disappear. "You could say I'm something of an art merchant... As for what I'm doing around here? Well, I already told you... Your daughter told me your village needed help, so I'm here to help." He said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tul'mi wasn't sure how to respond to that, though when he said he was just an art merchant, she looked over to the group of humanoid monsters that were clustered together along the fence line of the field, noting their bloodied maws and claws. After another moment of thought, her ears twitched as she heard the sounds of the battle still going on in the village's plaza and decided to just take the stranger at face value as a helping hand. "I see... Well, if you're here to help us, then how can we help you do that?"

The stranger seemingly nodded with approval as he made his way over to the pile of corpses the foreign soldiers had dragged over here and began looking them over. "You can help me best by staying out of my way, and I mean no offense by that." He mentioned as he took a knee and began making the corpses of the foreign soldiers disappear into thin air. "I'll take care of the forces by the drawbridge with my guys... However, if you feel like you're up to the task, then you can try to help the people who were taken from here."

Tul'mi's ears flicked with surprise as she listened to the stranger. "You know where they're keeping them?"

He bobbed his head, glancing up at her for a moment before going back to looking over the pile of bodies, making another one disappear. "Yeah, I took a couple minutes to interrogate one of the bastards and he helpfully told me what I needed to know... Your people and supplies are being taken to a clearing in the north to be collected by their forces later so they can be taken to their base in the mountains."

She was admittedly rather surprised by that info before bobbing her head intently. "How sure are you about this information? Couldn't he have simply lied to you and told you what you wanted to hear?"

"Oh, he lied to me for sure, barely half the things he told me were the truth." He said before glancing back up at her and flashing a small smile. "But his memories told me a different story and he couldn't lie with those."

Tul'mi couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine as she considered the implications of what the stranger could've done to get the foreign soldier's memories, but she ignored it and focused on the task now at hand. "Very well, then I shall gather the guards and see what we can do about the people they've already moved."

"That sounds good to me, though that brings me back to my earlier question... Do your wounds need tending? I have no doubts in regards to what you're capable of, but you're hardly in fighting shape." He said as he looked up at her again before looking around at the guards who were among the group.

Tul'mi looked among the others as well before sighing softly as she scratched the back of her head. "You're right, but if you intend on tackling those soldiers in the plaza, then I can't possibly ask you to burn your mana on healing our wounds as well."

The man just smiled kindly as he stood up before meeting her gaze. "If that's what you're worried about, then I don't need to be the one to heal you." He mentioned before holding his hand out.

In the next moment, two figures stepped out from thin air and stood before her. The clothes they wore vaguely reminded her of the sort of garb acolytes and clerics wore, yet they wore no emblems or sigils that showed their religious order. The green glow of their eyes and the paleness of their skin betrayed that these two were likely some kind of monster using a humanoid form, yet they were in remarkably better condition than the sprinters and other monstrous beings were in.

Before she could say anything, the man spoke up as he regarded the two beings he summoned. "Now that I'm thinking about it, your faces may disturb the villagers... I'm not saying you two are ugly, far from it, but the lack of expressions can be offputting." He said, apparently talking to them in particular before snapping his fingers with a smile on his face. "Aha, I know what I can do..."

With that, he pulled two wooden planks from seemingly nowhere and began to magically shape them into a couple of bird masks. He then made the two beings hold the masks when he pulled out a ruined green shirt before looking over to Tul'mi. "This was specifically tailored to order, just for me. I've only had it for a little under two weeks." He mentioned with a sigh before tearing a couple of strips from it.

He punched holes around the edges of the mask with his index finger before fitting the masks over the two beings' faces and using the green cloth to secure them to their faces. "There we go... I suppose I should call you plague doctors now, instead of healer zombies." He said almost cheerfully before patting their shoulders and looking at Tul'mi again. "These two will treat your wounded, they've helped me with more complicated surgeries and treatments before, so I'm sure they'll be able to handle most wounds and damage."

Tul'mi couldn't help be regard the two beings in a new light, glancing between them and the stranger after another few moments. "Do they have names?" She asked before looking at the stranger more pointedly. "And what is your name?"

The stranger appeared to suddenly look rather thoughtful, considering the two masked beings in front of him before glancing over at Tul'mi once more. "I suppose names would be rather helpful... Wouldn't they? Well... My name is Vito." He said while gesturing to himself, though he seemingly hesitated as he regarded the masked beings, taking another moment to think before pointing to the one on the left first and then to the one on the right. "They are Wither and Blight. Yes, I know their names sound rather contrarian to being healers, but they are good at what they do, I can vouch for their skills from even before they entered my service."

Tul'mi could feel there was a sudden shift in the air once Vito told her their names, but she wasn't sure what caused it. In any case, Wither and Blight seemed to stand a little taller and appeared to be more attentive than before as they started looking her over. "I see, well I thank you for calling on them to aid us."

Vito offered a kind smile as he bobbed his head. "It's no problem... I can also spare the black-skinned leaper and the muscle-bound brute over there to help aid you in recovering your people. Beyond that, I need the rest of my forces with me if I want to thoroughly clean up the rest of those raider bastards."

Tul'mi couldn't help but be taken aback by Vito's apparent generosity, she could understand the drive to rush to an innocent's defense, but using his monsters and taking on a massive force all on his own while lending his monsters to aid complete strangers was just something she couldn't comprehend. This man was no doubt some kind of eccentric, that much she was sure of by just how he was carrying himself; smiling and chuckling around the corpses of those he just killed, not to mention the odd monsters he so easily commands. "Forgive me if I'm crossing a line... But why are you helping us?"

Vito looked surprised by the question, looking over at her while he had been gently rolling over the corpses of the guards and mercenaries who were among the dead of the foreign soldiers, laying them on their backs, closing their eyes, and gently placing their hands crossed over their chests. "Why? Because you asked of course, do I need any more of a reason?"

Tul'mi wasn't sure what to say at first before simply scratching the back of her head. "W-well... Not really, no."

Vito just smiled as he stood before looking at Tul'mi, meeting her gaze. "Helping those in need isn't a matter of duty, it's a matter of happiness. To help others brings me joy, so if I had to give a reason... I help because I want to." With that, he looked at the humanoid monsters before letting out a whistle. "C'mon you lot, let's get going." He ordered before looking over at Tul'mi again. "Good luck, don't die." He mused before turning and making his way towards the plaza.

Now alone with Wither and Blight, she looked between the two before jutting a thumb at the gathering of guards and civilians. "Go treat their injuries first, I can tend to myself for the most part." She ordered, the duo bobbing their heads at her words before making their way around.

As the next thirty minutes went by, she found herself leading a strike team of seven guards, two humanoid monsters and the two 'Plague Doctors' as Vito called them. Having followed the multiple carriage tracks going to and from the forests to the north of the village.

Cutting through the tree line, she eventually finds the clearing Vito told her about, spotting stacks of crates and sacks filled to the brim with foodstuffs and all sorts of other supplies, along with another fifty villagers. Just doing a quick headcount, she confirmed with the guards that just about everyone who had been taken away in the last several hours was all here and accounted for.

Among the villagers were at least another fifteen foreign soldiers, most appeared to be rather relaxed, though a few were maintaining their vigil rather dutifully as they kept the captive prisoners in line.

She took several slow, deep breaths, doing her best to center herself as she felt her manaheart begin to pulse and throb with vigor. She was about to order the attack to start when suddenly a massive spout of flames illuminated the smoke-filled sky behind them.

While Tul'mi may have been momentarily distracted, she was quick to notice the foreign soldiers were also quite distracted. She swiftly drew her bow while notching three arrows at once and enhancing her arrows with wind before launching them with rather precise accuracy and force; skewering three separate soldiers through their chest and throats. "Move in!" She ordered, standing taller while notching the next arrow.