"The black hand?", asked Repha with an obvious distaste in her voice. But her expression quickly settled as she didn't want to appear unthankful in front of her saviours.
Cyclone caught the hint, inquiring curiously:
"Are you on bad terms with the Black Hand?"
"Well, the Black Hand is a loose organization. Today they will free me of my chains and tomorrow one of them will come intending to convince me to stop taming beasts."
As the wood elf explained she shrugged her shoulders, causing the chains to rattle.
Silver Blade noticed her battered appearance, suggesting:
"Why don't we continue the conversation after freeing you?"
"Sure. The keys are with that bastard mercenary."
The friends were surprised that a wood elf would use such coarse language but didn't dig deeper for Repha's story.
Silver Blade glanced at Cyclone, prompting the latter to browse through her inventory, fishing out an unassuming black key.
With a click the chains loosened, granting Repha her freedom. She took a deep breath, stretching her wrists, standing up while hiding the pained look on her face.
"Finally."
Looking at the blood on the woman's clothes, Balm emphasized with her, generously using heal on the NPC.
Bathing in the comfortable emerald-green magic Repha's complexion was visibly improving. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling. When she reopened them, much more lifelines was emitted by those brilliant green gemstones.
"Thank you. I needed that.", said Repha looking kindly at Balm.
"Don't mention it."
"What do you want to do now?", asked Silver Blade, her voice clearly hinting at something.
"Someday I will make that bastard Donvin pay. But not now. Now I only want to safe my cute dreagles and finally leave this place."
"Good. We're right behind you!"
Repha nodded at the party, finally leaving the room as well as the warehouse. Arriving outside she stretched her tall body, the sun welcoming her warmly, a look of contentment on her face after being locked away for weeks.
But soon she became aware of the players waiting behind her, focusing back on the present. She led the party over a hill behind the warehouse, looking down on a small valley.
Massive creatures, similar to those tamed by Donvin, were lying in the valley, surrounded by mercenaries. Chains so thick it would need three people to embrace them bound the bests' legs, ending in massive boulders painted with several magic circles.
"Look what they did to my babies! Donvin has no respect for others. Not even his beasts, which should be his closest partners! That man doesn't deserve to call himself beast master!"
Cyclone scanned the valley, studying the beasts which looked like they could lay waste to a town, asking with an awkward expression:
"Are those your babies?"
"Of course! Don't be intimidated by their appearance. Scaled Dreagles are good-natured. You see that one over there with the blue back? That's Litte Blue. We've been friends since I was a little kid!"
Everyone followed Repha's finger, looking at the biggest of the dreagles, whose sharp eyes bore down on the surrounding mercenaries, frightening them into keeping a large distance.
Just then the beast seemed to feel something. A cry came out of its beak, causing the earth to tremble. The nearby mercenaries fell to the ground, holding their heads in pain.
Even the party had to cover their ears. Cyclone couldn't help but ask:
"You call that good-natured?"
"On no. My little baby! She is hungry! That devil Donvin must have skimped on her food! Let's go, it is time to free her!"
Repha didn't wait for the party's agreement, running down the hill. The players had no choice but to follow her.
A large-scale battle ensued. The ferocious mercenaries came at the players in waves, overwhelming them with their numbers.
But Repha turned out an even more fearsome fighter. As soon as she stole a bow from one of the enemies the wood elf began to vent her frustration.
Arrows shot through the air like homing missiles, each one hitting its target. The power imbedded in the attacks proved horrifyingly deadly.
Simultaneously Repha's beasts unleashed hair-rising cries from time to time which stunned the entire battlefield. Only the wood elf showed immunity to the effect.
At the beginning the players were shocked that all mercenaries rushed to them as one unit. But gradually they realized that Repha could have won this battle single-handedly.
The party slowly grew numb watching the enemies die like flies. They soon adapted their strategy to try and land at least one hit on as many mercenaries as possible, siphoning some EXP even though the bulk of it went to Repha.
This was definitely the most relaxed power levelling the party had ever done, inching closer to level 30.
Sadly, every good time has an end, and this one came quite fast. Under Repha's assault the about fifty mercenaries didn't survive for too long.
Naturally Cyclone was the happiest out of the party, collecting the loot with much fervour. Although the overall quality was quite bad at least it was made up for in quantity.
Meanwhile Repha stopped next to Little Blue, patting the dreagle's sturdy leg and studying the chains. Her eyes wandered along the metal coming to a stop on the weighty boulder it was attached to.
Digging through her memories she analysed the magic circles. Suddenly her expression turned ugly, and fire spewed from her eyes, startling the party.
"Lady, did something enrage you?", asked Bloody Edge having taken quite the liking to the impressive wood elf.
"How could I not be enraged? That bastard Donvin used imprisonment enchantments! No beast master with even a speck of honour would consider using those! What a disgusting..."
Repha didn't continue speaking. She gritted her teeth, her hatred for Donvin increasing by the second, nearly solidifying in the air.
She approached the heavy boulder with large steps, taking a scroll from her inventory.
"Does someone know [Transfer]? Come and help me!"
Although the wood elf spoke in a commanding tone no one was displeased after her earlier display of power. Silver Blade silently approached Repha, who handed a few scrolls over.
Subsequently the two women went from boulder to boulder, neutralizing the imprisonment magic circles. Silver Blade was quite glad about the rare opportunity to train her skill.
[Transfer] didn't have that many use cases. Although one could also visit magic academies to train, those would demand a certain fee.
Unfortunately, the training ended soon as all the boulders were treated by the two women. The chains finally lost their imprisoning effect.
The earth trembled as the five dreagles in the valley slowly stood up. Directing a high-pitched cry towards the heavens little blue abruptly tugged on her chains.
The metallic shackles stretched taunt. For a moment it looked as if the beast wasn't powerful enough. The chains stuck tightly to her legs, unwilling to let go.
Suddenly a deafening noise echoed through the world. The sturdy metal snapped under the power of the beasts. Heavy chains broke apart, the loose ends landing on the floor, digging into the earth.
Letting out triumphant cries the beasts repeated the process with their other legs.
Meanwhile tremors shook the earth. Repha realized that Donvin's beasts must've been alerted by the commotion, making their way here. She urged her babies to hurry up.
Recognizing their partner's anxiousness the beasts didn't dare to waste any time. Finally, they broke free from all the chains.
"Quick, adventurers! Get on Little Blue!"
The party didn't think much. Seeing that Little Blue lowered its body, offering one of its huge, leathery wings to the party, they hastily climbed on top of its back. Repha followed immediately, climbing on Little Blue's back with nimble familiarity, instructing everyone to hold onto the beast's feathery mane.
A moment later Little Blue raised her body, flapping her wings. A storm rose in the valley as the beasts began to ascend.
The players tightly held onto the mane as the wind tore on their clothes. Meanwhile Repha stood upright on Little Blue's back, looking down at the landscape.
A figure appeared next to the wood elf. It was Liam, who naturally knew that the game would prevent the players from falling off the mount unless further specified in a quest.
He followed Repha's gaze, watching a few dreagles gathering on the ground, and staring at them with curiosity rather than hostility.
"Stop them!"
Suddenly an angry shout rang through the air. Not only Liam but also his friends noticed the group of humans and nephilim in the distance. Riding on some mounts they approached swiftly.
A chubby nephilim took the lead, proudly presenting his wings, which were adorned with small star-like pearls. Jewellery hung from his entire attire and even his head was carrying a crown which was so big it was surprising the Broken Council didn't execute him for portraying himself as a king.
"Donvin!"
Repha spat this singular word with hatred, but she wasn't raring for a fight. Rather she told her beasts to speed up, burying her desire for revenge.