Chapter 2 - Billy Buh Bye

The sun was inching nearer to the horizon as Billy left the Adventurer’s Guild. He made his way to the outskirts of the town without much issue, not seeing any sign of Jared the maybe, kind of, sort of legitimate potion selling mage. He ran his thumb along the F engraved into his pendant. He sensed absolutely no magic from it, yet the tiny wooden oval represented so much potential for Billy. F-rank was nothing to brag about. But after F-rank came E-rank, then D-rank, all the way up to triple S-rank. Of course, nobody Billy knew had ever even met anyone who had met an S-ranker. Hell, even a D-rank was considered powerful in the town of Deez or in any of the neighbouring towns.

Billy was lost in thought as he made his way down the straight cobblestone road out town and onto the winding dirt path that led to Farmer Tim’s farm. A few times, his Gift guided him, saving his ankles from rolling on a loose rock or saving his boots from a perilous dip into an especially large puddle.

He meandered automatically down the path, fidgeting with his pendant, until he heard it. It was the crackle of electricity. Caught off guard, Billy froze instead of leaping to the side. A lightning bolt shot out from the brush and slammed into Billy’s unprotected back, sending him tumbling into the dirt. He rolled to the left until he bumped into a tree, then scrambled behind it, getting uneasily to his feet.

Billy tried to listen for any sound of his attacker, but he couldn’t hear anything over the beating of his heart or his own panting breaths. He knew the merchant wouldn’t completely leave him alone, but he thought that he would, at least, be spared a back alley beat down because he now had the Adventurer’s Guild’s backing. He was wrong.

Billy creeped slowly to the right, still hugging the tree. The crack of a branch off to his left was the only warning he got as he felt another lightning bolt sear into his side. This time, he was able to keep his feet under him, but only barely. His skin was blistered and bleeding where he had been hit with each blast. He could feel the skin around the wounds tugging uncomfortably with every little movement. They weren’t fatal by any means, but Billy felt himself slowed by the discomfort and pain.

“Who’s there?” Billy’s voice came out hoarse. Definitely not as manly or half as intimidating as he was hoping. There was no response, so he tried again, slowly turning in a circle, trying to spot his attacker. “I don’t have any money or anyone to pay a ransom for me. If this is about the potion, look, I’m sorry. I’ll fix things. I’ll spread rumours about your super awesome potions. You’ll get so much business, you’ll have to build a bigger stall.”

“You didn’t just cost me a single potion today, boy,” snarled a voice from behind Billy. “That adventurer reported me to the guards and they revoked my merchant’s license on the spot. No proof needed. Do you have any idea how expensive those are?” Billy’s assailant, Jared, was shouting by the end of his question.

Billy turned to face the man. The ex-merchant had clearly been roughed up by the guards. Half of his face was a wicked shade of purple. The boy grimaced. Town guards had a pretty bad reputation. Every street kid knew that town guards always meant trouble, whether you were reporting or being reported on.

A bandage peeked out of the crazed man’s left sleeve. Billy cringed. He knew what that meant. Some guards got off on cripling other people's Gifts. An alchemist that could manipulate electricity with his hands? Yeah, no chance they weren't gonna mess with that. Sure, a healer could regrow them, but around here? Nah. No way. Country bumpkin achievement unlocked.

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Seeing Billy’s gaze shifting to his hand, Jared held it up, screaming. “Two fingers! They smashed my hand and cut off two of my fingers! They knew how my Gift works and decided to punish me by limiting my potential by half. No, more than that. This… This is a death sentence. A marked criminal with half of a Gift? I won’t survive long, but I’ll sure as hell bring you with me!”

With that, Jared the mage leapt at Billy, arm outstretched, his good hand crackling with lightning. Billy waited, frozen in fear, for his Gift to tell him what to do. Nothing came. Jared’s hand slammed directly into Billy’s chest. The world seemed to go dark in an instant. No sound entered Billy’s ears. His heart stopped beating in his chest. His lungs stopped sucking in air. Billy stared in wide eyed terror at Jared as his body locked up and started toppling to the ground.

“You think one hit is all you’re getting?” Jared spat all over Billy’s face as he shouted at the boy. The ex-merchant slammed him against a nearby tree, cocked his hand back, charged it with lightning and slapped Billy across the face. Billy didn’t react. His body wouldn’t move. Darkness crept in as stars shot around in his vision. The incensed mage just kept hitting him over and over. But Billy didn’t - couldn’t- feel a thing.

Billy clung onto the only hope he had left. His Gift would save him. It would nudge him in the right direction at the last second and it would get him out of this mess. One little away of his head would cause Jared’s hand to smack into the tree, conveniently breaking his fingers. Billy would use the distraction to perfectly time a punch to the gut and then a knee to the face. It would. It… would… It didn’t.

He groggily looked up, trying to focus through the lights streaking in every direction, obscuring his sight. He could just barely make out Jared’s face as the man kept screeching uncontrollably, spittle soaking Billy’s face. The mage brought his hand back once again and channeled more and more magic. Not into his finger tips, but this time directly in the palm of his hand. A tiny, crackling ball of lightning formed. Then it grew. And grew. And grew some more until it was the size of a large apple.

The deranged mage, who had to stop yelling in order to fully concentrate on channeling his Gift, grinned wickedly. He shifted his wrist, pointing the ball of lightning directly at Billy’s face. Just as he was about to shove forward, the lightning winked out. The mana dissipated as his concentration broke. The mana flow had been cut off. His Gift had nothing left to give.

Billy didn’t gloat. He couldn’t. His eyes had fluttered closed. His legs had given out long ago.

Jared, sweating, cursed his Gift, his misfortune, Billy and everyone else who had ever stood in his way. His Gift had been spent, but he knew that wasn’t the only way to use it. It just needed a little bit of fuel to burn. He was already a dead man walking. At least, this way, he’d be able to land one last blow onto the infuriating little street rat.

Jared channeled lightning into his hand once more. This time, he couldn’t draw on his Gift’s power since he had already overdrawn it. He let his skill drain the only fuel he had left: his body. His life force. His cheeks sunk into his face. His muscles shriveled. His frame turned gaunt. He barely had the strength to reach down and swing his hand out one last time. As his hand arced through the air, his eyes tracked the tiny speck of lightning in his palm. He would have laughed if his lungs could move, if he had the energy. But he didn’t have anything left. The entirety of his being had all been funneled into his hand. And it only amounted to barely more than a spark.

A slight crinkle of his eyes was the only victory cry he could manage as he saw his palm smack directly into Billy’s chest. He felt the jolt of electricity leave his palm, then his consciousness fled.

CLEAR!