Tribal Threat Within Joya (Job, Solo)

After taking care of some events back in Magnolia that had pulled her away originally, Samira was back in Joya and ready to pick up where she left off. Or so she had thought. It wasn't long after getting past the mountainous borders of the jungle filled country that another distraction stopped her from getting to her real objective for being there. A traveler of sorts had approached her group while they were making their way down a commonly traveled path. It was an easy route to take before splitting off into a much less traveled path that went into the more dangerous and unknown parts of the jungle. They didn't really have a real guide for Joya, but there was an agreement between them and one of the native villages to obtain one. For a price, naturally, or so said the one in the group that had set things up a while back before the expedition set off. Most likely they would have to help the villagers out in some way for their help as a reward, but first they had to get to the village instead of someone of the tribe coming to meet them and taking them there. Interesting logic and kind of inefficient with the time and delays, but it was what it was.

As for the traveler, he had approached them since it was obvious none of them were natives, and it was quite clear to Samira and the others that he was an outlander to the country as well. A merchant he said he was once asked. One that had been having trouble and needed an escort through the jungle to a certain location. One of the group had recalled a job posting by someone with the same name as the merchant, with the same details even. Obviously if he was still needing help then no one had taken the job, or were taking ages to get there. It was curious though. From the details Samira was given, the job was classified as a very low ranking job. One that technically anyone could do even without magic. A job like that existed in a jungle? A jungle that was no where near Fiore and would have required a passport to even sign up to claim the job? Odd. No wonder no one had taken it. It was far too much effort for simple mages that could have done the same sort of tasks locally. There were a plethora of them. And none of the more skilled mages were going to waste their time for a job that was so out of the way for such a small reward.

Lucky for him, Samira didn't really mind taking a bit of time to help him out. The detour wasn't that extreme, and since it was in the same country, unlike her last distraction, she could be done and catch up in no time. So she agreed to help him and be the escort. There really shouldn't have been much of an issue with her there, especially given her spirits counted as even more body guards and thus more protection. Not that it should have been needed anyway. The job was the lowest rank possible. It should have been very uneventful. Keyword being "should".

Samira had offered to just fly the merchant there, but he didn't seem to like the idea of riding on a giant winged serpent. Samira couldn't imagine why. The threat the spirit had made to eat him the moment he attempted to use her as some sort of mount was just a joke. Anhur was unavailable for the task, but somehow Samira figured riding a lion that was on fire would have been equally turned down. Although his own personality would have likely made the merchant uncomfortable even without the unnatural flames. The portals of Janus were also turned down. The man was allergic to portal magic. Apparently that was a thing. And so all of the more easier methods to travel were now out and eliminated. They would be doing the mission the traditional way of walking. No problem. No problems whatsoever.

(Word Count So Far: 690)

The journey along the trail was simple and rather uneventful at first. The path made of dirt and rocks took them both through the dense jungle. A wooden sign or two posted on trees or as a post along the trail itself had been encountered that told them where they were going depending on the direction. Odd for there to be signs around, but perhaps they were put up by past travelers or even the natives themselves. There were rumors that the people there were particularly fond of meeting others and were over the top friendly. Usually. There was a little slip in the paper work of that job that failed to mention that a local tribe was attacking villages along the border, as well as traveling merchants.

The merchant took the lead for he knew exactly which village he needed to get to. Along the way he had told Samira some stories of his travels and dealings, and soon he shushed and told the Wizard Saint to be quiet. They had reached the point where he had been attacked before. They were there even now. He was sure of it. Watching. Listening. Considering nothing had been mentioned of the tribe attacking him and others to her or even the job application she had been informed about, she had assumed he meant some kind of animal. Which that itself was problematic and eyebrow raising. Even some creatures required more skill to take care of than a low ranking mage had the capacity to do.

The man began to walk cautiously while remaining silent. That is until he heard rustling in the tree canopy above, at which point he screamed and ran behind Samira while shouting for her to protect him. The woman did not really sense anything threatening but then, what did she know of the dangers of Joya? She looked up and watched as a few leaves fell from the treetops and floated towards the ground. Then a monkey jumped out of a bush. Samira blinked. It blinked. Repeat. Then in unison. She walked away after that and continued on. "I do not think that creature will be harming you." Really she just wanted to get away from it before Serqet noticed and claimed it as a pet to replace Banana Joe. That pet monkey still had not been located after being tossed into a multi-dimensional portal by another spirit. Not that Samira was really trying to find it, and she had a feeling the other spirits were not aiding in the search either. No one liked that horrible monkey, and the last thing they all needed was a replacement.

The man grumbled as he followed along. Of course he wasn't referring to the blasted monkey! Indeed Samira knew that as well and naturally she kept her own alertness at max for future attacks even if it seemed that she was very lacking in the care or concerned department. Although, she was still fully expecting creatures rather than actual Joya people to be the source of danger. Oh well. She'd find out soon enough that the job was a little lacking in its full details even more than she originally anticipated.

(Word Count: 532
Total So Far: 1222)

In a short amount of time, as the two got closer and closer to the village the merchant had marked for his destination, things started to get a bit more eventful. There were typical traps set up along the path such as pits, nets, spikes. None of them magic related but still could be just as problematic and deadly for those unaware and incapable of escaping or avoiding them. The little detour was starting to be much longer and slightly more complicated than Samira had expected it to be. The traps were of little issue really. She had come across many during her adventures so they were often predictable. However, the merchant wasn't as lucky. More often than not he'd end up triggering one of them before Samira could warn him, or he just brushed off her advice and triggered it while ignoring her words. Several times she had to save him, even with help from her spirits, who many were none too happy at having to help someone that stupid.

For one final event of this little supposed to be very uneventful detour, the danger of traps had been replaced by an actual ambush and attack by a tribe that was known to be very troublesome throughout parts of Joya. They attacked even their own kind and neighboring villages so of course doing the same to a couple of outsiders did not create second thoughts or hesitation. They didn't consider the spirits that were now roaming around though, especially those that were able to keep themselves hidden very well as the two walked. To the tribe, the magical beings had vanished or were too far to be of much help in the defense of the two humans. They were wrong. As much as some would have preferred handling things a bit more violently and permanently, Samira could not have that. It would cause problems for the expedition group when it came to dealing with the Joya natives. Sure they might have been grateful to have the troublesome tribe dealt with, but she supposed it was better if she just incapacitated them and allowed the other tribes that were affected by the assaults to deal with them the way they saw fit.

And so that was what she and the spirits did. Their attackers were immobilized in various ways, although as harmlessly as they could manage given a good portion of their abilities tended to cause damage rather than being a simple harmless spell. Most were put to sleep though with the help of Cernunnos. A situation that was hardly dangerous to someone that had their own group of spirit bodyguards, but to wandering travelers, merchants, and other mages less experienced or equipped to deal with the matter, it was a task far above something that had been labeled for D rank mages. Was a mis-labeled job common? Samira certainly hoped not. For this particular matter though she wasn't pleased. After a little talk once the destination had been reached, the merchant came clean about the "unexpected" dangers. Certain details were purposely left out of the job description to reduce the cost of payment, which was an interesting if not completely ridiculous idea since more than likely doing that would only ensure a very likely death for those involved, including the merchant himself. There were ranks for jobs for a reason, and the insurance that the job could be done safely without it being out of the league of certain mages and their skillset was one of them. It was a good thing she had took care of the job before an unsuspecting newbie mage decided to give it a go. There was the matter of payment, but such a thing wasn't as important to Samira. She had plenty of jewels and the task itself wasn't difficult for her. However, he would be making up for it by helping out with the expedition group and getting them supplies. It seemed fair enough for her. That and not trying to abuse the job system for lesser payments in the future.

If she ran into the same issue again with him as the culprit she was not going to be a happy camper and would be less likely to let it slide the next time. Perhaps she would look into how often this sort of thing happened and start reviewing all of the job listings that came across her current guild, just to be sure. It was something to keep in mind for later if she ever made it back to the guild hall, which was a rare occurrence. For now though, she waited for the merchant to complete his business at the destination village, with a spirit escort naturally so he couldn't ditch her. Once that was done, and Samira completed her own observation of the place and talked with some of the natives about the troublemaking tribe and brought them in for them and other villages to handle, the two went back to meet up with the expedition group.

(Word Count: 839
Total: 2061)

500 for Tribal Threat Within Joya
500 for D Rank Freeform
500 for D Rank Freeform
500 for D Rank Freeform