Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 303: Convention, Day 3, Evening

The convention ended and we started packing up our things. Cassie had managed to sell all the potions she had brought, or more accurately Skadi had sold all the potions. I had gotten a lot of questionable offers and piled them up nicely, then asked Kasai to burn them.

"Why is your cat breathing fire on a stack of papers?"

I turned around and saw Sir Edward standing there with a raised eyebrow.

"I was handed some questionable invitations during the conference. She is taking care of them." I replied, then I added: "We are going to clean up the ash."

"I see. Your presentation was marvellous and sadly such discoveries attract all sorts of people." He replied. "I wish I could entice you to join the Academy of Neth. Maybe after you fulfill your obligations to the crown? You should really consider a career as a teacher and researcher."

I scratched my head. I had never thought about my future after the army, it was just so far away. I looked at Helena, then back at Sir Edward. "We will see what the future holds but I don't think I will be at an academy."

He nodded. "A lot of mages like to research on their own in solitude. Well, I wanted to thank you again for coming this year! Hopefully you will have some new discoveries and join this conference again in the future! Oh, and the tent is on me."

"Thank you for the invitation, it was a lot of fun!" I replied.

It was nice that we did not have to pay the rent for our tent, I had already forgotten about that. We finished packing our things and made our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow we would meet Princess Olivia and hopefully free Christa.

I was lost in thought when I found myself being hugged by Hatsumi. I was confused at first, then I felt pain in my left shoulder. My eyes widened as my mind finally caught up. There was an arrow sticking in Hatsumi's back. It had penetrated her and the tip was piercing my shoulder.

While my mind processed all of that Hatsumi was already moving again. She let go of me and charged, the runes in her arms shining brightly.

Somehow I felt a bit dizzy.

"Koyuki!" I heard Helena shout as I stumbled.

Oh, right. We were being attacked. I should defend myself. I tried to focus on my magic to summon a shield but it was hard to concentrate.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Suddenly I felt a bottle being shoved into my mouth. "Drink!" Cassie shouted and I complied.

My mind started clearing and I looked around. Somehow I was sitting on the ground with Helena and Cassie next to me. Helena was shielding us with ice.

Hatsumi still had an arrow sticking in her chest but she did not seem to care. She had summoned her blood claws and was engaging a hooded figure who was wielding two short swords. The assassin was doing a surprisingly good job of dodging Hatsumi, until Skadi's fist collided with his back.

I winced at the crunching sound as Skadi's empowered fist connected with the spine. The assassin cried out and crumbled.

Meanwhile, Nyx had grown and pounced at a fully armoured attacker. The person went down under her weight and Nyx breathed death fog into the visor. A lot of screaming followed.

Kaito's frostfire covered three people, who were screaming while they slowly froze.

Frank and Bob just stood there, carrying the empty trunk which had held Cassie's potions for the convention.

Ivy, Kasai and Yoru were mauling someone in the distance. It seemed that the battle was over before I had even realised it was happening.

"Thanks." I told my friends, who were protecting me.

"Are you alright?" Helena asked, looking at my shoulder.

"I think the poison is gone, thanks to Cassie. So it's just a bit of pain remaining. I think I can stop the bleeding with a small water heal." I started concentrating on my magic when Helena interrupted me.

"I will do it." She inspected my wound, cleaned it with water, then used her magic to close the wound. It did not fully heal it but the bleeding stopped.

"That must have been some powerful poison. That arrow went straight through Hatsumi and the tip still had enough on it to weaken you." Cassie observed.

Hatsumi rushed to my side, after her opponent went down. "Mistress! Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you for protecting me. But you have an arrow stuck inside of you! We need to take care of you!" I replied. Really, she should be taking care of herself first. "I can cast a necrotic heal…"

"No! Don't trouble yourself. I will just have a sip of an attacker." Hatsumi assured me. She ripped the arrow from her chest, then walked to the fallen attacker with the cracked spine. She grabbed the person and bit into his neck. Then she walked back to me. "It's all fine, now please let me have a look at you."

Hatsumi gently touched my shoulder. She used her blood magic to further heal the wound until I barely felt anything.

Cassie had collected the arrow and was studying it. "There is a small vial built into the arrowhead. This was specifically designed to poison someone."

I frowned. "But it went through Hatsumi. If they had hit me directly the tip of the arrow would have been sticking out of my back."

"I suppose it was meant for someone wearing armour, and even going through you it would have deposited a lot of poison. I suspect most of it is inside Hatsumi." Cassie replied.

"It did not affect me." Hatsumi said.

"My deepest apologies, Mistress." Kaito said, while bowing. "I have failed to detect this ambush. They were using illusion magic to conceal themselves."

I stood up and bowed to my undead. "I owe all of you my life. There is nothing to apologise for. And please, just call me Koyuki."

"Do we have any prisoners?" Helena asked.

"Hatsumi's snack is alive, I think. Just passed out. But he will never walk again without magic healing." Skadi said.

"I have frozen three attackers, although they seemed weak. I am afraid the cats killed the archer. The illusionist has escaped. The man in plate armour is dead." Kaito reported.

Before we could inspect the attackers further the guards arrived. I handed them my identification and tier three permit, then we told them what had happened. Helena and Cassie being nobility helped a lot and soon we were free to go. They did take all the bodies and captives though.

When we finally arrived at our hotel it was already dark and I was really tired.