The Weasand of Cados, in every essence of the term, was a place full of danger. A cave filled with vicious monsters, complete with deadly twists and turns, it was a place no one in their right minds would visit, as there were less risky modes of transport one could use to get to the other side of the desert. The rumors of the place playing host to a giganto monsters did not help its reputation any, and as such, the townsfolk of Nordopolica did not make a habit out of visiting the place.
But for a certain Jade Curtiss, it was, quite literally, a sanctuary. Precisely for the reasons that people avoided the place, in fact. Being an unknown who cleared the nastiest of challenges in the Nordopolica Coliseum in record time, it was a feat that earned him both the admiration and ire of the townsfolk.
Of course, it was all thanks to his unique way of casting, and as far as Jade unfortunately knew, he was the only one capable of doing so in this world. The fundamentals present in the world were simply no match of Jade’s more inexhaustible resource—the fruits of his careful research into the matter of energy and spell-casting.
Still, powerful as Jade was, there was one thing all the riches in the world could not afford him, and that was a good night’s sleep. Being a light sleeper to begin with, his nightmares about what happened a few months ago did not aid his quest for sleep at all, much more some misguided fool’s attempt to murder him in his sleep for all the loot he acquired as a coliseum victor.
Jade would have shaken off such an attack as a one-time matter, but then it happened the next night. And the next. And then the following day again.
While no bodies were made as a result of those mishaps, having to fend off attackers in the middle of the night was a matter that Jade found tiresome, and for that reason alone, it was enough for him to look for alternatives to an inn, with the main criteria being a place where he wouldn’t be bothered while he was resting.
And so, upon learning of the existence of the Weasand of Cados, he decided to turn the place into a makeshift base of sorts, banking on the chance that even vicious monsters had more sense than humans not to bother an individual who was clearly way more powerful than them. Primal instincts were a lot more predictable than human emotions, after all.
It was on the third such day of his living arrangement that he found a lady sprawled by the mouth of the cave he dared to call a home. Tempting as it was to ignore the person, doing so would leave her to a fate involving monster feed and he could not, in good conscience, let someone die a miserable death when there was something he could do about it.
After all, there was enough blood on his hands already.
Doing a quick check of the person’s vitals to ensure that he was in fact about to take care of a living being and not a corpse, he managed to carry her into the corner of the cave that he made into a small room of sorts. Propping her against the wall, he applied some medicine to the deep stab wound on her left arm and replaced the bandages that came undone. This person was lucky indeed, considering how he kept a healthy stock of healing items on him, as well as him encountering her when he did. If he didn’t find her at that particular time, the monsters would have made short work of her as they are wont to do.
Tossing his lone blanket over her, Jade proceeded to light a small lantern with a fire arte and placed it between the two of them, sitting down next to her and resigning himself to keep watch for the rest of the night, as the monsters might think of his new companion as ripe for the picking if he weren’t awake to keep an eye on them.
It wasn’t like he was eager to rush back to the realm of nightmares anyway.
