I grinned at the shocked man before me, reveling in the feeling of having the upper hand. “Yup,” I said. “Had my Cleanse at five, and I’ve been training ever since.”
“That’s impossible. How could a five year old mage have not been picked up already by some organization?”
I shrugged. “Guess that’s the perk of being a homeless orphan. No one really pays attention.”
Craw went silent then, seemingly finally convinced I was telling the truth, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head as his brain worked overtime, trying to figure out how to best use the sudden turn of events to his benefit.
Watching him think so hard only served to fuel my smugness. “You wanna rethink your plan to force me to sign the contract?” I asked in the silence that followed, the question more a taunt than anything.
However, Craw did not respond the way I had been expecting. “Hah, you think that’s enough to scare me off?” he asked, his mouth suddenly curving into a predatory smile. “No no, there is still no chance that you will leave this room as anything but my subordinate. What has changed, however, is what I’m going to do with you once you’re under my control. See, I don’t think you understand the kind of treasure you are, the kind of potential you have, if you can be nurtured properly.”
Confusion warped my face as the smug smile I’d sported a second ago evaporated. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked, having no idea what the man was talking about. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
Craw chuckled at my confusion. “Depends on the way you see it, but for you? Probably not.”
“I don't understand,” I said again.
Craw smiled. “Let me explain. Most of mage society – that is, the rich families that have had generations of mages in their lineage – has a set of standards against which they measure the future potential of young mages. And a large part of that measurement comes from how early said mage has his Cleanse. After all, the earlier a mage can start using Flux, the more of an advantage he or she has. But a Cleanse at five years is unprecedented, far earlier than anything I’ve ever heard of.”
I grinned at that. It was nice to finally have someone acknowledge how amazing I was. However, Craw’s next words quickly doused my happiness.
“Because of that, you are an incredible resource for any organization, assuming that they have utter control over you. Which would be easy for them right now, since you haven’t progressed far enough to stand up to them quite yet. Which means, if word were to spread about you – a young and weak mage with incredible potential – organizations would scramble to get you under their control. Honestly, I don’t think even Fight House has the clout to keep you under their wing; there will surely be Guilds and maybe even Leagues that will want to take you in.”
Craw smiled then, his eyes glazed with anticipation. “And organizations of their size practically drop money with every step, which means it wouldn’t be very hard for me to make a pretty dollar on the side, as a finders fee of sorts.”
Seeing the disgust on my face, Craw’s smile only grew. “If it's any consolation, they’ll make you very powerful. They have resources that you couldn’t even imagine right now, let alone ever see or use in your lifetime. They’ll treat you well, so long as you obey.” Craw cackled at that. “If you think what I was offering is slavery, then you’re gonna hate what those organizations will have in store for you. Should’ve just taken me up on my offer in the beginning,” Craw said, shaking his head. “Goes to show what happens when you stupidly resist everything that doesn’t go your way.”
It was finally my turn to go silent, the implications of the man’s words settling in my head. Finally, I spoke again, mustering up as much confidence as I could. “Well, that sounds like a dream for you, but what makes you sure that you have the strength to make it happen? What makes you think you can stop me from just walking out of here with my money?”
Craw grinned at that, a victorious glint in his eye. “Because…you aren’t the only mage in the room.”
The second Craw finished speaking, the first of the men finally moved. The other men stayed put where they were, cutting off all escape routes as the man rushed at me.
Despite the dangerous circumstances, I couldn’t help the grin that grew on my face. The prospect of a challenging fight always put me in a good mood, and the risk only made the thrill that much sweeter.
Turning to face my attacker, a man easily twice my size, I squared my shoulders and rallied the power within me. The fist traveling towards me was more than half the size of my face, and an odd, gray stream had begun to rise off of it.
Instead of dodging the oncoming blow though, like they were hoping, I struck my palm out to greet the fist. It was a laughable idea that someone with my lithe form would dare to meet the man in front of me head-on, but when my palm clashed with his fist, we seemed to be evenly matched. The gust created by our clash ruffled the clothes of everyone in the room, sending some papers fluttering into the air. My palm and his fist stuck to each other, both of us pushing with all the force that we could muster. Black steam endlessly swirled up off my hand, drawing intricate and mesmerizing patterns in the air before it vanished.
The dark color of my steam was a surprise to the man, I could tell. The average mage’s Flux was gray or white, and the black color of mine was an anomaly that even I had not seen anywhere else.
After our stalemate lasted long enough that it became clear we were evenly matched, we quickly separated. The moment we both took a step back, we instantly jumped at each other, hoping to catch the other by surprise. Our fists met with a bang, the gust of dispersed Flux energy so powerful this time that it cracked the glass of Craw’s desk. Once again, the two of us were at a stalemate, our powers still evenly matched. He clearly packed much more muscle than I did, but I had been a mage for far longer than he had. I had spent countless hours refining my body with Flux, letting the strange power course through my veins endlessly. It got denser and purer with every punch and kick I threw. By now, the power I could render up was far more devastating than any mage I had ever met, few as they were.
I could tell by the feeling I was getting from the man’s Flux that mine was far more refined. The only reason that the man could match me evenly was because of his raw physical power. However, his physique was obviously suited to explosive power, not speed. And as long as you knew what to hit, speed would always triumph over brute strength.
While the man was entirely occupied with overpowering my fist, I suddenly brought my heel down on his toes with all the force I could muster. Immediately after, I bent my knee and sunk it into the man’s gut. A groan escaped his lips as he bent over in pain, only to meet the uppercut I had thrown. His jaw snapped shut, with my fist forcing him to stand upright again. The man took a step backwards, trying to keep himself up, but I could tell he was close to being out of the fight. The sudden three-hit combo I’d managed to pull off had caught him off guard – it was obvious the man was underestimating me from the beginning, likely thinking that it was overkill for a mage like him to fight a child like me, so it wasn’t a surprise that I’d managed to slip past his guard. Now, following up with a few more punches would be all that it would take to put him out of the fight for good.
But unfortunately, in a fight where you were outnumbered, taking the time to finish a person while the rest were still standing was a grave mistake. Something I’d learnt through painful experience.
So instead, I shifted my focus to the four men surrounding me, searching their faces as I wondered which one would be next to attack. I’d dealt with the only mage of the group, which I hoped would dampen their spirit, but it seemed the men had different ideas. All of them rushed at once, throwing four fists at various points on me.
My smile widened and my brain kicked into gear, my body coming alive as power thrummed in my veins. With a deep breath, I suddenly leapt towards the man coming at me from behind. His fist was aimed at the base of my spine, and my backwards jump took me just a few inches away from impact. However, I had a plan. Right before his fist could hit me, I brought my knees to my chest and leaned back. My jump had given me enough height that with my body balled up and rotated, I was able to pass just over the man’s fist. With that, the first part of the plan was complete. The second phase was much harder. I continued my rotation until my head was level with his chest, and my knees with his face. Now in the perfect position, I extended my bent knee with all the strength I could offer. The man, whose momentum had kept him still heading in my direction, practically smashed his own face into my knee. A spurt of blood gushed out of his nose as my knee sank into his face. The force pushed the heavy man sailing back into the already broken door. The man crashed into the wall and went right through, leaving a crumbling hole behind. Completing my backflip, I landed in a graceful crouch, still untouched after dispatching two of the men.
The other three men were still undeterred though, and continued their rush. Two came from the sides while one came from the front. My mind raced as I tried to figure out the fastest way to end the fight, despite knowing I could easily best each of the men in a fair fight. I’d trained with Flux for a long time, but I still couldn’t handle the power running through my veins for too long. Already I was feeling ragged, as the volume of Flux I’d called upon wasn’t something I was used to, and I was sure I wouldn’t last much longer.
Then, suddenly, the middle one leapt towards me, his arms spread out to grab me. The moment he moved, an idea struck. Pushing the power in my veins down to my legs, I leapt off the ground and high into the air, far higher than a normal human of my build should have been able to jump. Certainly far higher than the men had expected me to be able to jump. The man in front of me had no time to react before the sole of my right foot landed atop his head, pushed down again as I leapt off of him and towards the desk that Craw still sat at.
I flew through the room, drawing an arc through the air as I closed in on the desk. But, before I could land gracefully on the desk like I’d planned to, I felt a sudden tug downward as someone’s fingers circled around my ankle.
The yank threw me off completely, and I fell on the desk with a hard oomph, the edge of the glass digging into the soft spot just under my ribs as my head banged against the top of the desk. The pain came at me like a truck, making my head spin and my torso sting like it’d been stabbed.
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But I was no stranger to pain, and I knew that letting it hamper me at the moment would spell the end for me. So instead, I clamped down on the feeling and focused on the man who still held my ankle in his vice-like grip. A quick glance told me it was the mage, the one I’d assumed would still be out of it. After all, it’d only been a few seconds since I’d sent him reeling, but it seemed I’d underestimated him as well.
Not wanting to give him a chance to continue his attack, I twisted my hips and brought my free leg over, swinging it like a bat as my heel crashed into the side of the man’s head. It was a masterful kick, with almost every muscle in my core providing power behind the swing, and it showed. The man dropped like a rock, slumping down to the floor almost immediately.
I allowed myself a small grin of satisfaction at that. As someone of my lean build, I didn’t have enough muscle to bring to bear as much strength as I needed, so I’d gotten exceptionally good at wringing every drop of power out of my body when I hit. And that kick had been testament to the years I’d spent honing that craft.
With that man dealt with, I spun around on the glass desk and brought myself face to face with Craw. A predatory, bordering-on-evil grin spread across my face as I stared the terrified man down. The three men still standing were too far away to come to his rescue now, and the both of us knew he didn’t stand a chance against me. Electing to stay in the room during the fight had been his folly, but overconfidence was the failing of many an intelligent man.
After relishing the fearful look in the man’s eye, I shot my hand forward and clasped my fingers around his neck faster than he could blink, forcefully shutting off his airway. The man squeaked as his fingers came to my hand, trying to pry my fingers off, but it was futile. My grip was rock solid, and I wasn’t about to let go anytime soon. After all, I was living out a fantasy I’d had since the first day I’d stepped into the insufferable man’s office.
Without needing to turn back, I heard the three men behind me attempt to attack me, but I slid off the desk and landed next to Craw before any of them could reach me, making sure to keep a steady grip on Craw the entire time. The three men paused as they saw that their surprise attack had failed, their faces betraying the fact that they had no idea how to proceed.
I gave them a cheerful grin, before shaking Craw a little by the throat. “Tell them to leave,” I ordered.
Craw didn’t answer, so I tightened my grip a smidge. Immediately, Craw opened his mouth.
“Ok, ok, I’ll do it. Just let me breathe a little,” he squeaked out.
I loosened my grip a bit, just enough to let him talk properly.
“Alright men, you can leave,” he said after a moment, defeat coloring his voice. For all his resourcefulness, he knew there was no way he could work himself out of the situation now. He had lost.
The hired men hesitated for a second, before quickly giving up and leaving. I laughed as I watched them leave. “That’s what you get when you think you can buy loyalty instead of earning it.”
“Oh shut up. You think you’ve won, do you? Trust me, you won’t live another week after I get the entirety of the Fight House after you. You think stealing from a Don is something they’ll take lightly? And with our resources, we practically run the streets. You’ll have nowhere to hide.”
“Oh please. The audacity to call me taking the money that’s owed to me stealing is unbelievable, even for you. Do you seriously think that you could mobilize all of Fight House just because you tried to scam one girl and couldn’t? That’s just embarrassing for you. Honestly, it might even be in your best interest to make sure no one ever hears of this. You're already low-ranked enough as it is.”
My words quickly put an end to the man’s posturing. He sagged in my grip as true defeat robbed him of his spirit. It was a pathetic sight, pitiful if not for the fact that I knew the kind of person he was. He’d long had a moment like this coming for him.
So instead of sympathy, I allowed myself a grin of victory and dragged Craw by his neck to the computer that was sitting on his desk.
“Now then, transfer all the money in your account into mine,” I ordered.
“And if I say no?” Craw shot back, apparently still not quite defeated.
I gave the man my most dangerous smile. “Say, how much do you like your fingers?” I asked in response. And that was all I had to say for Craw to get the message – after all, most men of his profession didn’t shy away from tactics like that themselves.
Craw met my eye for a second, and we stared at each other for a second in silent challenge. In a secret corner of my head, I prayed the man wouldn’t call me on my bluff. I was used to hurting others, sure – it was a part of life on the streets – but never had I done so like this. And I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to, if it came to it. For all my posturing, I was still stupidly soft, and I knew it.
Thankfully, Craw caved in to the threat of pain. A man like him would, anyway – pain was a terrifying beast to pencil pushers. So, with deft fingers, the man worked the keyboard in front of him and quickly deposited the money – all the money – in his account into mine. He sagged again as he watched his account balance bottom out, going from a five-digit number down to a solid zero. A twinge of pity sparked in my chest as I watched the man lose a massive chunk of his life’s savings in one go. But I snubbed that feeling. No good would come of it; this was simply the way of the world now: we fought for scraps and put everything we had on the line every time we did. And sometimes, we lost.
And besides, giving credit where it is due, Craw was indeed a survivor. He was resourceful. A setback like this wouldn’t be the end of him. He would surely have emergency funds set aside for occasions like this. Or at least, that’s what I told myself.
On the outside, however, I didn’t give let on the slightest hint that I felt bad for what happened. With a satisfied laugh, I gave the man a little pat on the head. “Y’know, I’m very happy with the way this meeting turned out.”
“I’ll make sure you regret this,” Craw spat in response. “Enjoy it while you can.”
I laughed again at his empty threat. “You know, just curious, how’d you get the money you promised me? I imagine you aren’t so generous that you planned on footing the twenty thousand we agreed upon yourself, right?”
Craw seemed confused, no doubt wondering where the line of questioning was headed, but he answered nonetheless. “Of course. Well, I didn’t plan on fulfilling that part of our contract from the beginning, but I still requested the twenty thousand from the Fight House. We Don’s can request money we need for our clubs so long as we have sufficient cause; the contract was enough for me to get the funding approved, since signing on fighters like that is a pretty common practice.”
I nodded in understanding, the gears in my head turning. “And where did you get this money from?”
Once again, confusion flitted across the man’s face, but he still answered again. “The Dons of this floor have a central account that gets a certain amount of money monthly from the higher-ups. The account is used to fund the overall expenses of the clubs around the city, and the salaries of the Dons, and other stuff like fighter contracts.”
I nodded again. “And this central account. All Don’s have access to it?”
Craw nodded.
“Are there security measures in place to stop Don’s from skimming off extra money for themselves?”
Craw gave a grim laugh. “Yeah, it's called ‘steal and everyone who shares your family name dies’. No Don would be stupid enough to try and cheat their system. The higher-ups have a whole team of accountants and specialists who make sure everything always adds up. Not to mention, the process of becoming a Don for these people involves linking your entire life with them; nobody would be stupid enough to throw all that away for a futile chance at stealing some money. And if they were, they’d be found immediately, since the organization knows everything about them, including all the people they care about.”
I nodded again. “That all sounds very serious. But…” I paused there, letting the crazy grin I’d been holding back appear on my face. “All that seems to apply only to you. Based on everything you’ve told me, I see no reason why I can’t just make you transfer all the money into your account, and then into mine from there. Doesn’t that just sound like a lovely plan?”
Craw’s eyes went wide with disbelief. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way that would work. You’d be found out in a heartbeat, and they’d never leave you alone. They would actually hunt you down for that. You won’t survive a week.” The man's voice was frantic as he searched for every reason he could to dissuade me.
“For someone who hates me, you sure seem to worry a lot about me, y’know? Trust me, I’ll be fine. The city is a big place, and for all your claims, you guys don’t actually run the streets. Sure, you guys have a lot of money and people, but if you think you can find one person in this haystack of a city within a week, you’re kidding yourself. It’ll take at least half a year, if not longer. And by that time, I’ll be well on my way to building up something that can handle whatever you guys can throw at me.”
Craw stared at me for a second in utter shock, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. “You’re insane,” he managed finally, seemingly unable to find better words to express himself. “You’re insane,” he repeated.
I laughed at his shock, feeling pure joy course through me. It was honestly nothing short of a miracle that I’d survived as long as I had, considering how desperately I craved that feeling of being on the edge. The plan was wildly dangerous, and more than stupid – I’d known from the second the thought had struck – but once it had, it would not be denied.
“Well, sounds to me like you agree,” I said to the flabbergasted man. “Let’s get down to work, shall we?”
It took a little more cajoling and a slight touch of threatening, but the man eventually caved in, ready to do as I’d asked. But as I stared at the lifeless look in his eye, recognizing the look of a man who knew his life was nearing his end, something inside me refused to stay silent. Sure, the man would’ve done the same to me in a heartbeat and without a second thought, but I was different. I’d been taught better, after all. I didn’t have it in me to sign a man’s death warrant, as surely was what was about to happen. I didn’t know if that made me weak, or stupid, but in the end, it was who I was.
Before Craw could enter in his details as the account set to receive all the money in the central account, I placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. “You know, since you’ve been such a good sport, I think I’ll take some mercy on your poor soul. Transfer the money straight to my account.”
Craw gasped, turning to me again. “Are you sure? They’ll know exactly who took their money that way. They’ll have so much information on you.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m literally saving your life here. And you're still trying to look after me? I’m touched, Craw.” I knew that if the money was withdrawn first to Craw’s account, even if they knew that the money was stolen by me, Craw would be considered a liability. And in organizations like the Fight House, that meant death. But if the money were transferred right to my account, all the focus would be on finding me. If Craw played his cards right, no one would even know I visited today.
“Besides, I told you already, right? I have a plan. The only reason I’m keeping you alive is because I want you to personally witness me do everything you say is impossible for me right now. I'm destined for great things, so I don't plan on dying to some small fry organization like Fight House.”
“You’re insane,” Craw repeated once again. “But thanks, I suppose.” And with that, Craw quickly took every last cent left in the account and put it in mine. I was now officially rich enough to live the rest of my life on some tropical island with absolutely no worries to deal with. But I had other plans.
“Well then, I really can’t thank you enough Craw, but I should get going. I’ve got plenty of things to do now that I’m almost a millionaire.”
I turned around and swiftly made my way out of the office, leaving behind a shell-shocked Craw. I suppressed the urge to run until I walked through the revolving doors of the building. The moment I made it through, I broke out into a jog, heading deeper into downtown. The upper management of the Fight House had probably already found out that all the money in their central account had been mysteriously transferred out to my account. I would have really liked to see their faces, but the nine hundred thousand and some that I made off with was a nice compensation.
Once I was a few blocks away, I slowed to a walk again. Casting a look behind me, I let out a giddy laugh as the high of what I had accomplished finally hit. I had made a plan long ago, and with the math that I’d done, twenty thousand had been enough for the first part. But now, with almost a million dollars in my bank, I could speed up the plan substantially. In fact, I was considering completely scrapping the first half of the plan. My mind raced with the possibilities as a wide smile blossomed on my face. Whatever the future held, it was certainly going to be thrilling.