“What do we do boss?” the short man from before asked his officer.
“We do nothing, Sean,” said the officer.
“But boss what if the other gangs hear about this? We fought so hard to win that street from the Fireflies and now we can’t even collect protection money. We will become a laughingstock,” said Sean.
“It’s not like that’s the only store in the street. Leave that old man alone we can collect money from the other stores,” said Harvey—a third-year officer of the Bloodworm gang.
“But boss if the storeowners realize that we are not collecting money from that old man then they will start doubting our abilities,” the tall man who went by Elias added.
“They won’t. The Fireflies most likely did the same thing. But they must have tried to set us up by not mentioning that the old man was under the Dawnblade’s protection,” Harvey said with frustration and anger. “Anyways you are lucky the Dawnblade was there when you went to the stall. Leader would have personally skinned you if he heard that you touched someone under the Dawnblade.”
Sean was not happy with how even his superiors feared the Dawnblade.
Harvey noticed the unhappiness on Sean’s face and said, “Don’t be so depressed now. The leader has a plan to deal with the Dawnblade, but it will take some time. That’s why we can’t touch him now; the plan’s still not ready yet.”
Sean calmed down after he heard that and asked, “What’s even so scary about him boss? I know he killed the White Serpent's upper echelons but wasn’t that just an assassination? Can’t we deal with him if we group up?”
“No, it wasn’t an assassination. He walked in right through the front door,” Harvey said seriously.
“But that’s impossible!! One man can’t just take on an army!!”
“Yes. That’s what we all thought at that time. We even laughed at him and made bets as to how long he would last,” Harvey said as he was lighting the cigar in his mouth. “Nobody at that time had the foresight to bet that he would win. And why would they? The White Serpents were the name of the town then. Their leader was known as the strongest enforcer in history. He was a manaborn with the poison aspect. Nobody could touch him before they started vomiting blood. The White Viper’s name stroked fear in the hearts of all the residents of the slums. The Dawnblade’s title wasn’t even known at that time. We only knew him as some upstart with some fighting skills.”
“What’s a manaborn boss?” interjected Elias.
“You know how the Gods sometimes bless one of their followers with enhanced mana assimilation speed?” Harvey said.
“Yes?”
“Manaborns are just that except they aren’t blessed by any Gods, they have naturally superior mana assimilation speeds.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. If the White Viper didn’t commit any heinous crimes, then he would’ve had a good position in the imperial army. Anyways, we are getting sidetracked. Where was I? Ah yes, the fight. Some officer of the White Serpents killed a whore who tried to repay her debt and get out of the business. The officer was confused as to how the girl got so much money so quickly and figured she was stealing under their noses. So, he made an example out of her. He never knew that it was the Dawnblade who paid for her release. Not that he would’ve cared at that time even if he knew,” stated Harvey.
“He fell in love with a prostitute? What an idiot,” laughed Sean.
“Who knows why he did that. I wonder if he is even capable of love,” said Harvey while puffing his cigar. “When the Dawnblade heard how she was killed, he was enraged. Or at least I heard he was, no one knows what’s going on under that deadpan face. He went to Red-light Street and killed the White Serpent officer he found there, but apparently, he wasn’t the one who killed the girl. He was just there to fuck some other whore. So, the Dawnblade left a message to the White Serpent grunts over there to inform the officer to confront him if he had balls. The officer replied by saying that he could meet him at the White Serpent bar.”
Harvey paused and rested his cigar on the ashtray to get rid of the ash and continued, “Everyone else knew it was a trap. The bar was the headquarters of the White Serpents. Going there meant you would be facing the White Viper and all his officers. But he still went, with only his sword in hand. He entered the bar that night and left twenty minutes later drenched in blood.”
He paused again and leaned back on his chair with a stoic look, “It was a massacre. No one really knows what happened inside, some say he had fighting instincts like those legendary sword dancers of Eshad. Only one thing was certain; the White Serpents were no more. The strongest enforcer gang in Winterport erased in a single night. The power vacuum that followed was another disaster. Only after the Fireflies cemented their position did the fighting really stop. No gang dared to bother him directly after that incident, we only occasionally pay his captain to assign the most difficult patrol area to him.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Harvey put down his cigar when was done with the story. Sean and Elias had terrified looks on their faces. They were praying to thank the White Flame for stopping them from doing anything stupid today.
“Now if you understand how close you were to your grave then get your weapons ready, we have to get some revenge,” said Harvey as he went to get his sword from its plaque.
“Revenge?!! No boss we are totally fine!! You don’t need to die for us!” Elias shouted with fear.
“Who’s dying idiot? I’m not talking about the Dawnblade. Those damn Fireflies think it’s funny to set us up against that Demon. They must have already realized that their plan failed. If we don’t retaliate, then they will think we are getting soft. Let’s go we are taking Gravel Street,” he ordered.
“Yes Boss!” they both replied with enthusiasm.
As they were on their way to Gravel Street Elias paused and asked, “Is that how he got his nickname boss? He was the dawn of the wicked White Serpent gang. Sounds like a legend.”
“Daaawn of the wicked White Serpent gang?? We took over most of their business smartass, don’t go around tempting fate. And no that’s not how he got the title. That’s another long ass story we don’t have time for now. Get ready we are almost there,” replied Harvey as they approached their destination.
…
Cal went inside Leo’s Hammer shop after arriving at Smith Street. Business was booming as usual. He could see a few other customers in the store. Leo was sitting behind the counter reading some papers. He was a 30-year-old man who settled in Winterport five years ago. Word on the streets is that he is the best blacksmith in the city. Most of the city guards got their weapons from him, even some enforcers scrunched up all their money to afford one of his Flamestone swords. His are said to have three times the mana receptibility compared to regular Flamestone swords provided by the garrison.
Leo heard the doorbell and looked up from his paper. He saw Cal and said with a playful smile, “The infamous Dawnblade. What can I do for ya?”
He seemed to have fun teasing Cal with his nickname. He knew that Cal didn’t like the name. Some of the customers at the store were also startled when they heard it.
“Stop using that title,” Cal said in annoyance. “Need to maintain my sword I think I damaged it in my last fight.”
“Oh yeah. Why don’t you use that sword to stop me?” Leo replied with a smirk trying to get a rise out of him.
Some of the customers who heard this started to exit the store quickly, but a few smart ones just kept browsing the wares.
Cal knew he could never touch Leo. He was the city guard’s golden goose. Even he would be beheaded if he dared to harm him. He just stared at Leo without saying anything.
“Just kidding, haha. You’re no fun Cal. At least be angry or something, always that blank expression. Such a waste of your handsome face,” Leo sighed. “Let me have look at the sword.”
Leo examined the sword after Cal handed it over.
“Hmm. This is some serious damage. What did you fight this time?” Leo asked.
“Ordinary adult shade.”
“Ohhhh scary stuff,” Leo replied. “I suggest you just buy a new one. I got a new batch of swords ready. It’s one of my new masterpieces. What say?”
“Every new batch is a masterpiece to you Leo. Just fix this one I only bought it a month ago,” Cal said.
“Cheh, stingy brat. Money’s not gonna save your life when your swords break during a fight,” Leo said but took the sword anyways. “Come back tomorrow it will be done by then. That will be 50 silvers and I’m not taking any paper money.”
“Paper money?”
“Some new currency the Imperial Bank introduced; they call it fraes I think. A scam that’s what it is I say. Paper that is interchangeable with gold? What a joke. It’s just a front to take away all our hard-earned money,” Leo replied with visible anger.
Cal just handed over the coin and left Leo to seethe in his self-induced rage. He was about to leave when Leo spoke again, “Oh yeah Cal, I think Commander Iris was looking for you. Something to do with an expedition I heard. She came to get her sword an hour ago and asked if I saw you.”
“Expedition?”
“Yeah, that’s all I know ask her if you want to know more,” Leo said before waving him goodbye.
Cal left the store wondering what to do next. The Commander’s office was in the inner city which was impossible for enforcers to get into without prior permission. He didn’t know what this expedition was about, but he figured it was just another task. Most of his interactions with the commander begin with her offering him a position in the city guards and ended with her being disappointed and frustrated by his rejection.
‘She will just send for the captain to get me if it’s really important,’ Cal gathered. ‘I will go to the training grounds and practice my swordsmanship. It’s near the garrison so the captain might also be there.’
With his decision made he continued on his path. He passed by the fish market near the port before heading north towards the garrison.
He reached the training grounds half an hour later. The northern parts of the city were home to the garrison and the residential district. There was no gang activity here due to the heavy presence of guards. Most of the gangs stayed within the slums and the port district.
He could see Bryan and Phil training in the corner with one of the enforcer instructors. They didn’t notice him, and he would’ve preferred if it stayed that way. But he also wanted to train here so he knew it was inevitable. He went towards one of the open fields that was furthest away from the recruits and was about to take his sword out of its sheath when one of the instructors saw him and spoke up.
“Oh, Callahan I heard your captain was looking for you,” said the nearby instructor.
“Where is he?” Cal asked.
“I think he went to the slums, but if you’re here then he must be coming back,” he said.
“I will wait for him here then,” he said before taking out his sword and practicing his swings.
The captain arrived an hour later and was quite annoyed as he had to run in circles to look for Cal.
“Oi Cal where the hell were you today? You know how much I had to run to look for you? Stop training now, the commander’s looking for you. Let’s go its already close to evening she is gonna punish me if we don’t hurry,” Reginald ordered and motioned for Cal to follow him.
Cal put his sword back in its sheath before following Reginald and walking towards inner city.