Guardian was sneaking through vacant streets and alleys. There was no artificial lighting to light it. He stalked around the barrack where the town guards resided, being careful not to get heard. He was looking for the mess hall or the kitchen, not an easy task. He has never been inside this building.

What gave the kitchen away was that it had multiple big chimneys poking through its roof.

Domesticated wolf started to growl as he smelled the black intruder. It was fortunate that the barrack grounds had only one of them. The wolf ran to him and jumped in an attack. Guardian was too tall for the wolf to reach the neck and rip it open, it aimed at his hand instead.

Guardian raised his clawed feet and kicked the jumping wolf. The wolf flew and hit a nearby wall with a thump. It was stunned and not injured too badly. The wolf lost the fight, brushed its tail under the hind legs and ran cowering away, looking for his keeper.

The time was of an essence now, the wolf might have been heard and woken up someone. He kicked the door of small storehouse, breaking its lock and sending the door of the hinges.

He nodded happily. This was the store-place where the food was at. He whiffed the air and his nostrils were filled with the scent of flour and vegetables. He left the storeroom alone and went for the door which was not too far from it, there was a path of packed dirt leading to it.

He tackled the door and they splintered into pieces as he hit it. It was very noisy. He regretted not having any thief skills so he could pick the locks, or being smaller so he could fit through the window. He barely fit through the normal door.

He looked around and he saw what he was here for. A huge metal pot which could hold enough gruel to feed at least 30 people. It looked more like a squished barrel or a crucible than a normal pot. Its sides and bottom were very thick, it was made out of metal alloy. Three of them were lining the kitchen’s walls.

He took one of them and ran back the way he came from. He had to be quick because he made too much noise breaking in. It was heavy but nothing he could not handle.

No one was there so far to stop him, it was good. The small wall protecting the area was close by. He jumped propelling himself upwards, hoping to run up the remainder of the wall. His feet hit it and clawed at old clay bricks.

The portion of the wall gave in as it was not that thick, and bricks were very old and cracked. It toppled down with him on the ground making a loud bang. The pot hit the bricks and rang like a bell. He was screwed or so he thought. He looked back there were lit torches approaching his direction.

He picked the pot and ran as fast as he could. Being able to see in the night assisted him greatly. He was running and running, he was almost near to the edge of the town.

Suddenly a man emerged from one of the alleys crossing his path. He was not able to notice the man in time and hit him with full force. There was a loud bang and a crunch of breaking bones as the man hit the pot and his body flew towars the nearby wall.

He himself got thrown of balance. Lost the grip of the stolen pot and rolled couple times on the ground. He was mostly okay, all he had were some bruised and cut skin. The same could not be said about the man. He laid motionless on the street. There was a long trail of blood as he flew quite the distance. His neck was broken and his head was cracked open. There were broken bones poking through the flesh in various places.

He brushed the dirt rubbing his knees and elbows looking for that damned pot, it rolled somewhere.

His head was still spinning from the tumble, but once it stopped he noticed it. It was nearby and well, it didn’t even get bent, only a splat of blood and brain matter could be seen on its side.

He clutched the pot and continued his mad rush back to the forest. This was not good, the trouble he got himself into outweighed the benefits, but it was too late now. What’s done is done.

He let out a gasp of relief once he reached the forest. He made sure to circle round as much as she could so he could not be traced easily. All he had to do now is get rid of his scent in case there were domesticated wolves pursuing him.

He rubbed some of the smelly alchemical paste on his body, prompting to him sneeze a few times. It was the thing Aiu made crushing some smelly pods. He hated the smell of the stuff. It would make his nose runny and itchy and he would lose his sense of smell. Good thing was that once the sense of smell was gone so would not be able to sence that horrible stench.

Once he was deep inside he deemed it to be save to wash off. He found the stream where he cleansed his body, washing the paste away. Then he went back to the hut.

He set the big pot next to the fire place where the young woman was sleeping. She had wrapped herself in a dirty pelt of wolf they have hunted this morning. She must gotten cold at some point. The tallow was done so he poured it into small barrel leaving it to cool and harden.

Once this was done he went back to his usual spot to wait for a morning.

In the morning Aiu woke up, she was surprised to see a big metal thing by the fireplace.

“How did you get it?”

“It is better if you do not know.”

She suspected something fishy. The pot was clearly used as it had some brown dried stuff on its side. And its bottom was black from soot.

“Do I have time to cook something for myself or are we going straight to the forest?” She was curious what will they be doing today.

“You will take the things you have made to the city and sell them.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“No, not this time.”

She felt an attachment to him and did not want to be separated.

‘Is he tired of me already and need some time alone? I hope it is not the case.’ She was thinking about the reasons why he was letting her to handle the things alone this time.

“How about the barrel, the one with the stamina potion brew?” it was too heavy for her to carry.

“Leave it, it is not done yet. Even with the catalyst it will take at least a week to infuse. Take these instead.” He handed a pouch of dried leaves.

“What is this?”

“Tea leaves. Some of the herbs can be infused in water and drunk to treat various ailments slowly over time.”

‘She knew about the tea, but have never actually had any.’

“Can I keep some?” drinking something else besides water would be a fresh change.

“Sure. You will be picking more of them by yourself later.”

She packed her stuff in a big backpack and went for a door.

“You forgot the stuff we harvested from dire wolves.” They had to be sold while still fresh.

“I always keep forgetting stuff.” She admitted with a sigh.

“You shouldn’t.”

‘I know you don’t have to tell me.’ She dropped wrapped organs in her backpack; bundle of pelts was held in her hands.

“Goodbye.” She said going through the door.

“…”

She came back poked her head, and repeated “Goodbye!” again.

“Oh, goodbye.” He did not know that this custom was performed not only while in public, but with family members as well. He was used to be alone, saying goodbyes felt weird for him, but he did not dislike it.

She walked slowly towards the city taking her time. There were a lot of stuff she was carrying and she did not want to get tired. She did not get to eat this morning, but as an orphan she was used to it.

Going to the city without him was different experience. She looked different than before, she did not look like she was living in a slums anymore. She had an actual stuff that could be stolen. She became anxious about that.

‘Calm down, no one knows what is in the backpack.’

Aiu looked at her busy hands which carried the pelts. She doubted that people would want to steal this, as they were still not processed. She was wrong, people would steal pretty much everything.

She had to push and squeeze past the people as she travelled towards the tanner. City market was a busy place. She got showed and pushed multiple times, she even fell once. She looked less poor but people still disrespected her, her small stature did not help either. Traveling with her parental guardian was easier, people instinctively would give way for him.

Eventually she reached the tanner and traded the pelts in.

“Do you want the coin or the leather?”

Tanner would tan hides into the leather also he would process in exchange of a fee. Some people would bring pelts not to make money but to get the leather made out of them.

‘Why would I need the leather?’

“I take the coin.”

“Tell me how you got these. Is your father a hunter?”

“Something like that.”

He put two silver coins on the table. The girl knew that they were better than coppers, but not how much. No one taught her about the money.

“He must be a good hunter to kill two direwolves in a single day.”

“He is the best!” the girl felt proud.

The tanner chuckled and said goodbye to the girl.

After the tanner she visited the apothecary. She received a praise for working this hard and doing business so often. She got a sizable sum selling herbalists stuff and alchemical ingredients, especially those from wolves.

Aiu had a small fortune in one of the pouches on her belt. She paced happily through the market streets, back towards the forest. The air was filled with various smells, the smell of food.

She thought about buying some food but refrained from doing so. Cooked food was expensive and her guardian would notice the shortage of coins. She was sure he would check.

She went past the two guards patrolling the market. The conversation they were having drew her attention.

“All that was taken was a single pot.”

‘It can not be…’ she suspected it but did not want to believe that Guardian might be responsible

“All of this makes no sence. Was there any food missing from the stores?”

“As I said, no. The doors were kicked in but nothing was missing.”

“Very interesting.”

“Indeed, they even broke the outside wall to get it. It just seems too much work for some worn down pot.”

“The pot might be just a distraction.”

“That is what I thought, but nothing else went missing.”

“Do you have any suspects?”

“At first we thought it was done by some sort of stray beast hunting for food, but his was ruled out.”

Feral monsters would sometimes stray into the city and wreck hawok whilst looking for food.

“So no suspects.”

“No”

“Very interesting.”

‘He went through all this trouble to get a simple pot?’ she did not know what to think of him. She was the one who wanted it. ‘Should I be happy or not?’ She decided to forget it and don’t question it. The less she knew the better she would sleep at night.

She was walking down an alley way, thinking happily about her few past days.

Suddenly, she was pushed from a side, lost her balance and fell on the ground.

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“Hey!”

“Hey you, filthy orphan!” said a young man.

“What happened? You dress better but smell just as bad.” said another. There were two of them

It was because of the foul smell of wolf pelt, she was sleeping in. Such beast had an unpleasant stench on their bodies.

“Shut up!” She shouted at two young men.

She got kicked in a side.

“Hand over the coin you slag.”

“We saw you leaving the shops!”

One of them was a son of a gang leader. He would often bully and harass her. He was cruel like his father.

“I have nothing for you.”

“Don’t lie to me!” He spat on her face and kicker her again.

They were by the side of street, there were people around but no one gave a damn. Whole city was like that. No one wanted to get in trouble and though only about themselves.

“Uhh.” She groaned clutching the side of her belt where the money was.

“Check her backpack.”

“It is empty.”

“She must be hiding it in one of her pockets.”

The girl tried to kick back but she was quickly restrained by one of them while other frisked her for money.

“Get off!” she shouted.

“Shut up!” he yelled in response and puncher her in a nose.

The punch was not that strong, he was clearly holding back, but it was enough to leave the nose bleeding.

“Owwwwww!” the young man suddenly started to shout. He was being raised up in the air by the collar of his shirt.

His friend let Aiu’s hand go. He quickly backed away, his eyes wide open.

“What are you doing? let me go!” the young man flailed his hands and struggled. He managed to slip out of his loose shirt and fell. His butt slammed the hard ground.

“Do you know who I am?! You cun…!” he shouted as he was turning back.

His friend was staring at him and shaking his head wildly in the protest of his words. Half naked man turned around to see a tall beastman standing behind; his shirt were still in giant’s hand.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“What do you care? She is an orphan, just having some fun.”

“She is not anymore. She is mine now. You hurt her, I hurt you!”

“You will regret this.” the young man stood up.

“He is a son of a gang leader.” his friend butted in meekly.

“What do I care?” girl’s guardian said as he kicked the young man in his chest. It was not a strong kick but it was enough to wind him and send him tumbling backwards.

His friend turned to run away.

“Where are you going?” He caught him by the shoulder, picked him up and threw towards the ground. His body slid through it; young man groaned in pain.

“You will do well to remember to stay clear from her, if you value your life that is.”

Both of the muggers were hurt but alive. All of this gathered a small crowd. As usual, no one dared to interfere or say anything directly. People were just whispering between each other. He picked up the girl who was clutching her nose. The crowd parted to let him past and he went on his way.

They were on their way but the incident was far from settled. Rough looking people, clearly belonging to some sort gang were shadowing them. Further down, a bunch of them were closing down the path Guardian needed to take. If he wanted he could have easily scattered the trouble makers with a good tackle, but he decided to play their game.

The Aiu and Guardian turned left to the different alley, one of their paths were blocked again. They turned to the alley on the other side. Just as they were nearing the end of the narrow pathway in between the buildings their way was cut off from both sides.

“We got you bastard” one of the gang members spoke. “How dare you hit my boy” he continued.

“You got yourself in trouble big man, you pissed off too many people you should not have.” another man spoke.

These two were the leaders from different gangs. They were surprisingly quick to gather their men on such a short notice.

“How come you are working together? Not clawing the throats of one another, as usual?” he inquired.

“Common good.” He replied which a shrug. Or common evil for that matter.

Guardian raised the girl up towards the roof of a building. She hot a hint and climbed on top of it, this was to keep her safe.

“Don’t worry we will take good care of her once we do your head in. Haha” one of the gang members bellowed with a laugh while grabbing his crotch.

He was getting surrounded by over a dozen of scruffy looking men. Not just men, there were some batsmen too. They were armed with long knives of wooden maces. The humans looked poorly dressed and equipped but they had good amount of muscle on them. The other group was a mixture of bestial races, they were descendants of tigermen and lionmen clans. One of the older looking beastmen had a spear, he actually was a lizard man.

The lizard man was the one he had to be warry of. Not just because he had a spear but that he looked like an experienced warrior, his footwork and pose gave it away.

Incidentally the ones wielding the wooden maces had the least chances against him. The only way they would damage him is if it connected with his head, which was a hard task to do as he was quite tall.

“Fools, you can’t even get proper weapons. I will wipe the ground with your sorry faces”. He taunted them.

“Ha! What can you do against a dozen of us? It won’t be like the last time.”

It was not the first time this group of thugs have bothered him.

“No it won’t. I doubt I will let you live this time.” He was the one to charge first.

The human swung his mace hitting his upper arm. The mace connected and then bounced off, the muscle and his skin was too thick to do any serious damage.

Guardian’s fist connected with the man’s face crushing it in and sending the teeth flying all over the place. The human fell backwards unconscious, possibly even dead as his face was in a terrible condition.

Then he got slashed on his side. It was one of the gang members who did it. The cut was shallow but it still hurt. So guardian kicked that man on his side sending him down to the ground.

“Fuck! He is fast.” The man cursed.

Three of the beast men charged him from both sides. Their maces were hitting him with all their strength but his skin were good at absorbing the shock. It was like trying to club a bear with a stick, not very effective.

He grabbed one of the batsmen by his arm, then by his leg. Beastman flailed at him, but it did not last long as tigerman was thrown towards humans who were trying to engage him. A group of four were forced to the ground. One of the attackers approached him from the side. He kicked the beastman in a knee, breaking it.

The humans were trying to take him down as well; they did not stand idly watching. A group of knife wielding men got couple of good slashes to his back.

“Watch his tail!” lizardman shouted.

Too late. He turned in full circle quickly spinning his heavy tail. It worked to trip the men attacking him from behind. He quickly jumped back stomping on the chest of one of them. The annoying lizardman stabbed his left leg, he stomped with his right again crushing the ribcage of the laying man.

Then he punched one man trying to stab him and kicked away another. Guardian shifted his strategy to the attack again and ran towards the two batsmen in front of him, trying to make some more space.

The two hit him with a mace and stabbed with a knife. He flexed his arm muscles preventing the knife from being pulled out. The beastman got disarmed this way. He kneeled the other in the groin so hard the beastman passed out.

As the unarmed one tried to back away he grabbed him. The poor creature tried to wrestle away but he overpowered the tigerman. Getting the hold of his head, he quickly turned it. It snapped and the batsmen fell to the ground limp.

“You monster!” One of the men shouted.

“Eight more left. How about you give up now boys.”

“Screw you!” They knew he was injured and they still outnumbered him.

He swung his tail again keeping the gang members at distance. Taking the two down helped him to get out of the encirclement. The gang members were reluctant to attack, they just kept taunting him to attack. He had to make a move.

He sprung forward towards one of them in a quick leap avoiding the spear. The man swung his club but it got caught by his hand. He clawed the man in the face sending a small stream of blood in the air. The cut was very deep, bits of flesh were ripped out. The man clutched his face and tried to scream in pain, he was choking on his own blood.

He sung his tail again as the gang tried to approach him. His tail connected with a face knocking one of them out.

As he was turning to face the men again they did not hesitate. Those who were able to avoid the tail jumped on him and slashed at his side and arms. Knives were moderately effective, but still they did not cut deep enough to get anything important.

“Thick bastard!” the man cursed seeing little damage they did.

He jumped and rolled to the side trying to shake them off, but they kept pushing. He swung his tail again.

“Same trick does not work more than tw…!”

Or so the batsmen leader thought as his head was kicked from below by a clawed foot, shattering his jaw and sending his teeth flying. He was able to use his tail and leg for an attack at the same time, he was surprisingly nimble. Guardian grabbed the man by his feet as he was going up into air. He swung him and sent him flying head first towards the brick wall.

The others did not like that. One of their leaders got taken out.

Seeing the men hesitating he pushed to attack them. He clawed at one of them, blooding his arm and punched the other. This got him stabbed by a spear, it lodged deep in his thigh.

“You slimy swamp dweller!” He shouted at lizardman as he grabbed the shaft of the spear. Preventing the lizard from pulling it out.

Instead of letting it go the lizard man tried to push it in deeper.

“Got damn!” he shouted again. He swung his other arm breaking the wooden shaft of the spear.

Lizard man was left with a broken stick in his hands.

One of humans took an opportunity to club him towards his head as he was now crouched but human’s hit was blocked with an arm. The man was then tackled to the ground. Guardian bit into the thugs throat ripping it out with his sharp teeth. Instead of spitting the chunk of meat he swallowed it.

At this point it was four against one. He licked his lips in pleasure. He could win easily now.

“You disgusting freak!” one of the beastmen roared, berserk rage overtook him.

Contrary to the beastman, the lizardman droped his useless stick and ran away.

“This went tits up. I am out” said human gang leader and also disengaged from the fight.

There were only two batsmen left. A lionman and a tigerman. Both were tall, muscular and looked ferocious.

“I will not hold my punches against you two.”

“Bring it on.” Lionman took two knives to his hands and launched his attack.

As the beastman took charge he crouched and picked the discarded mace from the ground. It was launched promptly towards his attacker. The lionman was tripped by a low swing of his tail.

The lionman fell, his mouth was frothing from the anger.

Tigerman slashed his knives cutting his body in multiple places. He braced the pain and pushed past it managing to grab the gang member by one of his hands. He twisted it making him drop the knife tigerman tried to stab with another hand but was punched in a face. The punch stunned him, it was not strong enough to break anything.

Then he twisted the arm more forcing the bone out of the joint and tearing the tendons. He kicked tigers body while holding the arm separating it from the body. The beastman roared in pain falling to the ground.

The mad lionman jumped on him from the side pummelling him with his fists. His look was crazed, his reasoning was lost. He pushed him away but the beastman was relentless.

They started to wrestle. He fell to the ground and locked the beastman’s legs preventing his movements. Then he locked his arms against lionman’s thick neck and started to choke him. Guardian held his hand pressed for a while until the berserker stopped breathing and frothing from his mouth.

He stood up and ripped the spear from his leg, it was preventing him from walking. There was a small trickle of blood but it subsided quite quickly. Then he approached the one with a shredded face; poor person was coughing and wailing in agony. It looked like Guardian has blinded the man as well.

“We met trice already. I don’t want to meet you for the fourth time; you are a bad luck.”

He stabbed the man to the heart with one of the knives. It was done. The gang members have dispersed, weredead or unconscious.

“You still up there?”

“Y-yes” Aiu replied in a shaky voice.

He approached the wall and she jumped on his shoulders, then down to the ground.

“This was scary! You are hurt and bleeding.”

“But you are fine. That is the most important.”

‘This was because of me. He was protecting me’

He did not want the girl to get hurt. This would render her useless. Meanwhile he will heal easily, he had it worse before.

Aiu touched his leg wound.

“It will be fine. I am tougher than I look.”

‘What does he mean by that? That does not work if he says it’. He already looked as tough as it gets.

“Loot the bodies and let’s get out of here.” He commanded the girl.

She was reluctant to do that, this was too much for her. She ripped the shirt of the passed person, the one who had crushed testicles. His Shirt were the ones still clean of blood.

“Let me tie your thigh, it is still gushing blood.”

“No need.”

“I have promised to take care of you so let me do it.” She regretted not being able to help in the fight, this was the least she could do. She wrapped his leg in the shirt.

Guardian looted the gang members by himself.

“They did not have much only a few coins. At least knives are somewhat valuable.”

“Speaking about it shouldn’t you pull that one from your arm?” she pointed at the knife who was still lodged deep in his muscle.

“Leave it. It would just bleed more if you removed it. I will sort it out at home properly.” Healing sales and cloth bandage will be used for that.

Both of them emerged from the alleyway and proceeded back toward their home. People looked at him wondering what had happened but no one said a thing. Even guards did not bother to ask, pretending that it is not their job. They had an idea of what happened, they just couldn’t be bothered. Not until someone rich was involved. Poor people were left to deal with their problems on their own.

Once back at hut he used a healing salve and herbs to tend to his wounds and cuts. They would heal naturally but with aid it happened quicker.

“Let me go to the forest to gather herbs.” Aiu offered.

“In that case I will go with you.”

“You need to rest and heal. I can manage it.”

“It is too dangerous, the lure was set. Carcass Serpent could attack anytime soon.”

“I will be extra careful. Let me gather something more potent, just tell me what I should be looking for.”

She wanted to get herbs for him so that he could feel better. She couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, like that time on a roof.

“This is foolish.”

“I insist.”

“Fine, but cower yourself in a replant.”

It was smelly substance which predators hated as it blocked their sense of smell. The same one he used to mask his smell from domesticated wolves at night.

“But it is expensive, I do not want to waste it.”

“Later you can collect some herbs to make more of it.”

“Okay. So is there any particular herbs I need to pick up for you?”

“No, the usual will do.”

The potent stuff was even deeper in the forest. Deep inside the forest there was a magically infused part of it, a magical forest. The herbs were the most potent there, but it also was crawling with dangerous beasts.

“I will be back soon, you rest.”

“As you command.” He said jokingly. The girl took her promise to look after him seriously.

After few hours she came back. The unpleasant smell of repellent still clung to her body.

She took out the herbs she had gathered and started processing them into salves and various other concoctions.

He offered to help but she insisted that he rests. He was not injured badly all his wounds would be closed by tomorrow. His healing rate was extremely fast.

“So why didn’t you used magic? You are a magic user right.” she was talking about the fight.

“Yes, but not an ordinary user. My mana pool does not replenish normally like human’s do.”

“Hmm, so what do you do to get it back up?”

“I have to consume those who have magic pools within their bodies. Magical beasts do the trick.”

“But beasts can’t cast spells.”

“That is correct but they still gather magic in their bodies, hence their name. It makes them more tough and dangerous.”

“So you were saving your mana.”

He nodded in approval.

“Here I made these for you, use them.” She handed a healing salve and a mixture of healing herbs.

He put the herbs on his thigh wound and biceps. They soothed the pain and had a chilling effect. The young woman went back to the forest.

It was late in the evening when she came back. Her backpack was full of stuff, her face was smeared in berry juices.

“I have brought some food for you. You will need energy to get better.”

He hoped that it was nuts and not vegetables. Meat would be the best but he doubted Aiu would be able to kill anything.

“I got you some nuts.”

‘Yes it is nuts’ the young woman was proving herself useful.

He took the nuts and crushed their shells. He picked their sweet juicy cores and ate them with gusto.

Meanwhile Aiu put her vegetables in the old pot and set them to boil.

“I did not find much, but I will share. I can separate the shells and cores for you if you do the crushing.”

He crushed a bunch of them at a time and the girl would take the juicy cores put them in a bowl. Quickly the small bowl got full.

“I heard that you need to eat warm food when you are ill. It is supposed to help.”

He was not ill he was injured, but he let the girl proceed. He was interested what she was planning to do. She put a flat rock on fire and spread the nuts on it. She roasted them then scooped them with a spoon back to the bowl. Once the bowl got back full she gave it to him.

“How is it?”

She did not try it herself. ‘Who cooks without tasting?‘ he judged her. He took a few and put them in his mouth. The taste was good, it was still nutty but different.

“This is good.”

“I thought so.”

He pushed a bowl towards her, offering some. She took a few reluctantly and tasted it.

“Oh yes, this is very good. I have never had roasted nuts before.”

“Me neither. Thank you for this. It is good to have you around.” It was good to have a human around. He enjoyed the fact that humans were creative and inventive. He found them very interesting for that reason. This new food he never had before was a proof of that.

The girl blushed slightly. She was not used to all this praise. She was happy.

Aiu took some of the vegetables and shared them with him. The two of them talked for a bit and then went to sleep. Unbeknown to them a certain beast smelt a rotting carcass and it was slithering towards it. It was a rotting bear by their hut stinking the air and luring the beasts. It will come coon.