Felix stood on top of a small hill with Sofia by his side. Down below was the same mighty river they had followed for days until they finally emerged from the wild lands. Now, more than a week later, the duo had trekked miles on the plains, until they reached their destination, Redwaters.

While their journey hadn't been easy, as leaving the forest proved more demanding than they anticipated, once free from the roots and vegetation, they had made great strides forward. Still, Felix would have liked to progress slightly faster, but he had to adjust his pace to match Sofia's.

While she was by no means a burden, Felix wasn’t used to travelling with company. To him, such a densely packed forest was like a walk in the park, as anything was better than the battlefields he roamed when he was younger.

Still, Sofia surprised him. She was much more accustomed to the wild life then he first anticipated. She knew how to hunt, how to track and also how to know her location by looking at the stars. He hadn't expected such a thing from someone he knew only as a city kid.

While she knew his thoughts, Sofia didn’t disclose her past to him. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but somehow, she found it shameful. More than that, she felt vindictive. Why should she open up when Felix wasn’t prepared to do the same?

As such, they mainly travelled in silence. Felix was never the talkative type, but he could still hold a conversation if the situation demanded it. Still, he found such a thing unnecessary. Somehow, the silence was by no means uncomfortable. Whether or not by accident, he found being with her natural, as if there was no need for words. Still, he had no idea if she felt the same. Judging by the atmosphere between the two, he assumed so.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. Sofia simply couldn’t find the words. Small talk was only something she used to cheat the suckers who were after her body. She somehow felt disgusted at using the same techniques on Felix. She didn't wish to portray herself as a fake version. Somehow, it felt cheap when she knew Felix had always been honest despite not always telling the whole truth. Thus, the reason for the silence.

With their goal in sight, the duo descended the hill toward one of the bridges spanning the width of the river toward the Isle of Redwaters. Before that, they would have to pass through the surrounding settlements. While trivial for other people, Felix had no identification or was otherwise judged as a traitor, while Sofia was a criminal. Both couldn't pass the checkpoint leading into the settlement.

Still, Felix wasn't without contacts; it wasn't his first time going through Redwaters. They made their way toward one of the slums surrounding the settlement. While it hadn't been much more than a few years since he was last here, the slums were unrecognizable. It wasn’t a surprise as the people living here were transient at best.

For the people of the slums, death was but an inevitability. It wasn’t rare for corpses to litter the streets, even for the slums of a prosperous city such as the Capital, much less one like Redwaters.

While the surrounding tents were different, one thing remained the same. A small wooden structure stood upright within the centre of the slums, as if its seat of power. A large, tattered sign hung above its entrance, reading Johnny’s Shack: Enter at your own risks.

Seeing this familiar sign, Felix couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. Even as the seasons came and went, Johnny would always remain the same. As the duo walked the street toward the building, some of the slums' inhabitants stole glances at them from the covers of their tents.

While Felix knew that most of these stares were born out of curiosity about seeing strangers walk these streets, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he felt most of them rested on his companion. Despite Sofia's hair being unkempt from their long journey away from a hot bath, the radiance of her beauty still shone through the dirt and grim, which attracted many gazes. Most were laced with bad intentions.

Felix turned to warn her, but the look in her eyes told him she was already aware. Felix couldn't help but crack a slight smile. Her beautiful appearance when they were within the Hidden Fox Village had made him forget that she was no novice to the ways of the world. She had survived long years within a criminal gang where even the most hardened men wouldn't dare to tread. She wasn't a small chick in need of protection.

The couple leisurely strode forward, paying no mind to the onlookers. Confidence was paramount when dealing with these types of thugs, who usually acted out of desperation.

The people who lived in slums were considered the dregs of society, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Most were only people who had been dealt a bad hand or were simply born into it. In these parts, crime wasn't a choice but just a means of survival. It was either steal or starve. Some didn't have the courage to steal, hence the corpses.

Confidence was like an armour protecting you from those who lacked the will to survive. Still, it wouldn’t deter everyone. Desperation did that to people. It wasn’t rational.

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What most would consider a street urchin ran along the road as he was pursued by what seemed like a thug. The young boy ran as if his life depended on it, and yet, Felix couldn't see the usual terror one would usually find in someone in this type of situation. Instead, he noticed a slight, barely visible grin on his face as the young boy looked behind him, measuring the distance to his pursuer as if trying to keep it constant.

This was such an obvious ploy that Felix felt the urge to scoff but managed to restrain himself. He wanted to know how Sofia would handle it. As he expected, the boy was headed straight for her, yet she showed no intention of evading. Curiously, he could spy a sly smile on her lips. Felix anticipated a good show.

Yet, the events stunned him slightly. The boy rammed into her, breaking her balance. She fell backwards as the boy evaded her, but just barely. His pace barely broke as the boy sprinted once again, trying to gain distance.

Felix only watched as the boy disappeared in the distance before his gaze rested on Sofia. He slightly raised an eyebrow but remained silent. While this wasn't what he had expected, he knew things weren't as simple as they appeared. Sofia's expression was the best proof.

Sofia rose and dusted her clothes. Unlike the dress she wore so well when they first met, her current clothes were well fitted for their travels, courtesy of those foxes hidden in the woods.

She wore well-fitted black pants that accented her hips, with dark leather boots reaching to her knees. Around her waist was small leather corset that slightly supported her bust while under it was a loose white shirt slightly opened at the neck, showing her slender collarbone. Her emerald hair was held in a bun while loose strands lightly fell on her visage. All in all, even despite the dirt, she looked breathtaking. If not for Felix's slightly threatening demeanor, he was sure she would have been kidnapped by now.

Still, Felix didn't worry much about that. Unbeknownst to them, there were countless blade hidden on her body. Honestly, she probably wore more metal than clothes. Which was why he was slightly surprised at the events that just occurred. He figured she would have retaliated somehow.

The thing was, she did, yet no one, not even Felix, saw her move. In her hand was a small leather pouch, which she threw in the air and then caught again as it fell, making small metallic sounds. Felix's smile grew slightly larger at this sight, and he couldn't help but ask, "What about your own?"

“Filled with stones,” she scoffed as a smile crept up her lips.

Felix burst out in laughter, which was a rare sight for him. Indeed, this was the first time Sofia had seen him in this state. Somehow, she felt a hint of pride in her heart. She felt as if she had earned his recognition. Still, she also felt conflicted. She wasn't used to base her own self-worth on another's image of her. This was uncharted territory, yet it didn't feel bad. It was as if they had become closer, somehow.

With this minor incident out of the way, Felix trudged forward, ignoring the stares around him. Still, some couldn't contain themselves once they saw the filled coin pouch in Sofia's hand.

A group of men bared their path. Felix figured they were the boy's accomplices, or more precisely, the boy was their bait. Such things were all too common within a lawless place such as this. Small time crooks would congregate together in a futile effort to seem more threatening then they truly were.

Thankfully, Felix was in a good mood and those people would live to see another day. While he wouldn’t kill that easily, if someone came to him, weapon in hand, he saw no reason not to reciprocate in kind. Even if he were to cut them down, there would be no one to seek revenge. No one was that altruistic; one could only rely on oneself.

As if unaware of their impending doom, the men unsheathed their weapons, all the while uttering the threatening phrases one would expect from them. It was all so generic that Felix just filtered it out. There was no point in even listening. Even Sofia simply shook her head; she, too, had seen this way too much. It reminded her of the Raging Beasts Gang; they were basically identical in their foolishness.

Felix took a step forward, then disappeared. All that remained was a deep imprint of a foot into the dirt road. It wasn’t some sort of magic, but Felix was simply too fast for them to react. He didn’t bother to unsheathe his blade, and simply struck with the butt of his palm. A single strike to the chin would do the trick.

The men fell like puppets with cut string one after the other. None of them even saw what struck them, and they were already on the ground, dizzied. Some of them also lost consciousness.

The surrounding audience held their breaths as they saw Felix and Sofia walk past the collapsed men. It wasn't that those men were weak, but Felix was simply too strong. Those men were infamous within the slums for their ruthless ways. They had many enemies who would jump at the chance to get back at them, which they did.

As Felix strolled forward, screams of anguish emerged from behind him. He didn't bother to turn around; this too was all too common. In places such as these, to show weakness is to sign a death warrant.

Felix didn't feel responsible for their fates; why would he? This ending was only expected, considering what type of place this was. It wasn't the strongest who survived, but the one to survive would be the strongest.

Felix glanced at the lady at his side and was intrigued to find that her face was a mask of indifference. He wondered how her life had led her to this point. Although he was curious, he didn't ask. There was no point. If she wanted to share, she would. He didn't ask of others something he wasn't prepared to do himself.

It wasn’t that his past held some unspeakable secrets; he simply valued the present much more. Why spoil this mood with such dreary talks?

Now, they had finally arrived before the shack. Their small walk down the road had been much more eventful than he had first anticipated. Still, Felix took a moment to appreciate the building's facade. It had been such a long time since he was last here, yet it all looked the same, as if time hadn't left its mark.

It wasn't that the building had something special, quite the contrary. It was as dilapidated as ever. It seemed Johnny refused to put any money into the building itself. Felix understood why; there was no point. To have a nice building in a place like this would only be asking for trouble.

Felix smiled slightly, recalling events of years past as Sofia showed a confused expression. She had no idea why they were here, but chose to simply follow his lead. Up to now, he hadn't led her into an unsolvable situation. She hoped it would remain that way.

Just as Felix stepped beyond the threshold of this establishment, a yell emerged from its confines before a bottle of strong liquor crashed into the wall near the door, spilling its contents everywhere. Felix's eyebrow rose slightly, wondering if this was somehow aimed at him, but he shook his head soon after. This was simply the type of place this was.

It's nice to see that despite all these years, this place hasn't changed a bit, Felix thought with a smile.