Early Monday afternoon. Jack stood before the entrance to a cave, hidden within the forests just east of Nadaska. All the evidence and rumors he had collected thus far led him to this location, and by the look of it- and the twinge of magic energy he could feel leaking from the c ave's entrance- he knew it was the correct place. Delving into the cave, Jack came face to face with a group of armed thugs- it seemed the mage who had made this place his home opted for a bit of security.

Two oversized brutes of men, armed with equally-brutish swords that looked like they hadn't been maintained since the day they were first smithed, rushed Jack while a scowling woman stood back, nocking an arrow onto a makeshift bow with enough wear that it seemed more likely to snap in two than release anything. The two men, lifted their swords above their heads, bringing the blades down upon Jack- or they would have, had he not simply sidestepped their attack. "You know, I can't help but wonder," Jack states, delivering a punch to the side of one of the men as he continues, "where do people like you even come from?"

As the brute Jack had struck fell to the ground, agonizing over his now-shattered ribs, the second growls with anger as he goes in for another attack. Swiping his sword horizontally while stepping towards Jack, who counters by blocking the blade with his gauntlet, the brute's forward motion neatly brings him into the path of the arrow that had just been released by the woman, piercing the back of his skull and killing him. Jack watches as the man collapses to the ground, looking up at the woman after a brief moment. "You've really got your team coordination down, haven't you?"

She scowls again, fumbling as she moves to nock another arrow onto the bow. Her focus set on her weapon, she loads it and looks back up just in time to see Jack standing in front of her as he delivers a punch to her stomach, eviscerating her. Jack looks down at her as she slumps over, collapsing at his feet. Shaking the wet blood off of his gauntlets, he moves deeper into the cavern.

After making his way through the small labyrinth of tunnels that made up the caves, and fighting his way past more small groups of pitifully underwhelming thugs, he makes his way to the final chamber of the cave, in which the rogue wizard he has been searching for stood. The wizard, in the middle of performing some sort of ritual, turns to the invader, his voice carrying his anger as he shouts at Jack.

"So," the wizard begins, "You've come to take down the mighty Fodrin, have you?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," Jack replies.

"Fool! You may have made it past my guards, but I am stronger than you could possibly imagine!"

"I guess we'll see."

With that, Jack approaches the wizard, who- somewhat perturbed by Jack's nonchalance- quickly prepares a spell, launching a volley of fireballs at Jack. His confusion turns to fear as Jack simply catches the fireballs, absorbing the arcane energy. "W-What the hell kind of power is [i]that?![/i]" he shouts, turning to flee. He realizes too late, however, that the chamber he is in only has one way out, and Jack stands between him and it. As he turns back, Jack is already standing over him, answering. "It's my power."


"No!" The wizard shouts, his fear turning to anger, "No, no, no! I cannot die by your hand!"

"Very well then," Jack states as he kicks him to the ground, stomping his chest in and ending the rogue wizard's life.

Jack knelt down, searching the wizard's corpse. Locating the amulet that had been looking for- along with a handful of golden coins, some stained with red by the wizard's blood- he pocketed his findings before making his way back out of the cave and into the forest.

Some time after he leaving cave, Jack approached the eastern gates of Nadaska. As much as he didn't like spending time in places he didn't need to be in, the journey back to turn in his bounty was too long to make on foot before nightfall. Monster attacks in the region had grown, and while he could fend for himself, being killed in his sleep wasn't something Jack was particularly interested in. Besides, the owner of the amulet had waited for it to be returned this long already; surely they wouldn't mind waiting an extra day or two...

"Halt." The command of the guard at the gate brought Jack out of his thoughts and back to reality. "State your name and your business."

"Jack. Hunter."

"Right," the guard answered with a tone of suspicion, "And I suppose that's your explanation for that, then?" As he questioned Jack, the guard indicated towards the blood that currently stained his gauntlets and the right side of his torso.

Jack answered with a simple nod, adding, "Occasionally a hunter of men," and retrieving a bounty, showing it to the guard.

"Ah, one of your types... well, I don't expect you'll find-"

"The hunt is over. Just need a place to stay until tomorrow."

"...right. Well, I suppose we can let you in." The guard steps to the side, allowing Jack to pass through and into Nadaska. And, before a minute even had time to pass, he had already managed to make his way onto the roof of the town hall unnoticed, observing the activity in the town. Below, he could hear the announcement of the hanging, and- more importantly, at least to Jack- the mention of a large chest and a reward for finding it. "Could make for a good supplement to my income,"  Jack muttered to himself, "if I happen to come across it."

Next, he turned his attention to the church, and the growing numbers of people around it. Jack's opinion of religious folk had never been too favorable- too dogmatic for his tastes; little more than glorified servitude, from what he understood of it. Not his idea of an ideal life in the slightest. As he was about to move on to other things, however, an individual exiting the church caught his eye- while he didn't look like much more than any typical traveler, something about him stuck out among the crowds of Nadeska like a sore thumb.

Jack narrowed his eyes, trying to focus better on the man. What was it about him? Not his general appearance... something he was wearing, perhaps? Nothing really stood out about that either, though he knew there must've been some reason the man caught his eye. He didn't have much time to think about it before another indivudal caught his eye- one he recognized as one of the Myti. It wasn't hard for Jack to determine what caught his attention for this one, though- it was a male Myti, seemingly traveling by himself. "Did he reject the place his kind would put him in...?" Jack's blank expression turned to a slight smile. "Good for him." Given his own past, Jack didn't particularly care much for the Myti culture's view of their males.

Following the humanoid feline's movements, he realized that the Myti had ended up passing through town into the same direction the man from earlier had- right into a tavern. And, after a brief period of time in which Jack observed the activity in the market, he found his attention drawn to yet another individual who, inevitably, ended up in the same tavern. This time, a hooded figure. He couldn't be certain, especially since night had already fallen and their dark clothing tended to mix into the darkness when it wasn't making a harsh silhouette against what scattered lights there were in the town, but from what he could tell by their figure, Jack surmised that this one, unlike the other two, was a female. "Three unusual individuals, all heading to the same tavern... I don't suppose..."

Sure enough, a brief look around town revealed yet another individual that stood out to Jack making their way to the tavern. This time, an elf. Gender... Jack had enough trouble telling what elves were up close, it'd be impossible to discern it from his vantage point. Regardless, at this point four strange individuals had made their way into the same tavern. As soon as he started heading there it'd be five; a decent size for a party of adventurers for any story. Of course, Jack knew this wasn't some run-of-the mill fantasy story; this was reality. In any case, though, something had drawn these individuals to the same place, and Jack was curious was fate would have in store for them.

Besides, he needed to get down from the roof of the town hall before someone noticed he was up there. And, more importantly, to get something to drink. Making his way down from the roof unnoticed- a feat made easier than his climb up to it by the cover of night and gravity working in his favor rather than against it- he walks to the tavern, arriving as the hooded woman was making her way up the stairs. "Suppose that's one less person to observe..." he muttered to himself as he walked over to the counter, staring down at the barkeeper, who seemed to be in a panic about something.

"Barkeep."

The barkeeper continued to frantically search himself, apparently not having noticed Jack's presence.

[i]"Barkeep."[/i] Jack strikes the counter with his palm for emphasis, shocking the barkeeper out of his panic.

"H-hu- oh... Welcome," the barkeep states with a sigh, his earlier frenzy apparently having left him sweating. Whether it was from nervousness or brief physical exertion for such a man, or even both, Jack didn't care. "What'll it be? Afraid we're out of rooms for the night."

"That's fine. I just want ale," Jack states, moving his hand to reveal three golden coins, two of which are stained with a faint red. "Don't worry about change yet. Just keep the ale coming. I have more gold if it comes to that."

"Yes, sir." The barkeep takes the coins, seemingly still disappointed about something enough not to notice the red stains that covered the coins- or Jack himself, for that matter. He solemnly moves to serve Jack, who takes the mug of alcohol and moves to one of the empty tables, positioned such that he can periodically observe the three unusual individuals who remained on the ground floor of the tavern.

Jack takes a swig of the ale before reaching back into his pack, removing something large and wrapped in cloth and setting it in front of him. Unwrapping the object, it reveals a large chunk of venison, the ends of a long bone jutting out of opposite sides of the slab of meat. Lifting the raw meat with both hands, sparks travel between the red-tinted crystals attached to the bracers of his gauntlets as flames emerge from his hands, engulfing the venison long enough to roast it. As the flames cease, the sparks disappear with them, the reddish tint of the crystals having reverted to a dull light grey color, and Jack begins to consume the now-cooked meat.