Winterport was a fairly new city only built two decades ago after the Flamengard Empire discovered flamestone mines on the island colony. The Marquis family in charge of the colony built the city as a trade center for flamestones and to attract settlers to this desolate island. Being so close to the Frost Sheet in the east meant that very few people would come here to settle. That was why most of the miners here were slaves who were forced to settle here and work for the Empire. Some of the islands further east to Rothberg Island were already consumed by the Sheets long ago. Many feared that Rothberg Island would be next in line, just like the fall of the Arcana kingdom a century ago—nobody wanted a repeat of that. However, the flamestones mines were too profitable to be just left alone.
The road directly behind the city gates was called the Market Avenue. It led all the way up to the town square and beyond to the noble and merchant district which was surrounded by a wall. The road was mostly filled with inns and shops of various goods. Most of them were closed at this time of the day.
Cal was about to head towards the slums to the south when he saw Bryan standing a few meters ahead. Bryan also saw him and walked towards him before stopping and giving him a salute. Cal gave him a weird look, but before he could do anything else Bryan started speaking.
“Thank you for saving my life, sir. I wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for you.”
“Just following orders, you don’t have to thank me.”
“But I still will. If you ever need anything just let me know.”
Cal couldn’t imagine what he could ever want or need from a recruit, but he nodded anyways just so he could go home faster. He was about to walk away when Bryan stood in front of him again. Now he was starting to get annoyed.
“You should be careful sir. I know you will be fine, but I think Phil might be blaming you for the death of his friend. He is a vindictive man, back when we were still slaves, he once killed a guy just because he tried to argue with him over some food. He blamed it on the shades thinking no one else saw him, but I did,” Bryan reported.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Is there anything else?” asked Cal.
“No that’s it. Goodnight, sir.”
Cal walked away telling himself that he would not stop even if the recruit spoke up again. He didn’t care if some recruit had a grudge against him. They should step in line. He had very likely pissed off most of the enforcers in the city in his four years of stay here.
He arrived at his home a few minutes later. It was a single room inside the best inn in the slum district. Well even though it was the best it was still part of the slum, so it wasn’t anything special. Just one small room with a bed, a table for eating, a dresser for his weapon and clothes, and a small safe hidden under the bed. The best part about the room was that it was directly opposite of the washroom, so he didn’t have to walk far to get there. Cal had been renting this place for a year now. The innkeeper was already fed up with him, but he never asked him to go away as he paid a premium to stay there.
The inn was under the protection of the Roaring Fireflies—one of the enforcer gangs run by a third-year enforcer who goes by the name of one-eyed Glen. He apparently lost the eye while fending off a shadow. Cal very much doubted this, but he wasn’t one to go around and argue with others. The Roaring Fireflies mostly left him alone as they did not have any bad blood with him. As long as he didn’t cause any trouble in their territory, they allowed him to stay at the inn. At least that’s what the gang told its members. They were too scared to offend him after what he did to the White Serpents when he was still in his second year.
The downfall of the White Serpents was a memory deeply etched in the minds of all the leaders of the three largest enforcer gangs in the outer city. Most of the smaller gangs stopped bothering him after that incident. Of the three major gangs, the Stingrays and the Bloodworms still had deep-seated grudges against him and would occasionally try to harass him. Only the Roaring Fireflies didn’t go out of their way to step on his toes.
Cal stepped into the inn and saw the receptionist sleeping behind the desk. He quietly went to his room and shut the door. He ate some stale bread that was left on top of the table. Since he wasn’t really that tired from the fight, he sat on top of his bed and started circulating his mana. He always tried to do this for about an hour before going to bed. It helped to speed up the mana assimilation in his body. Even though the best way to speed up mana assimilation was to use up your mana during a fight, meditation also helped. Besides it had become a sort of ritual for him as it helped to wind down.
Cal had already assimilated mana into his blood vessels and created his mana circuits which allowed him to circulate his mana faster and release it outside his body in his first year. He used his second year to assimilate his stomach, intestines, and some other peripheral organs in his abdomen. He was also mostly done with assimilating mana into his livers. By his estimate, it would only take another week. Once he assimilated his liver his mana would take a qualitative leap as it would turn purer and more deadly. He could already feel the effects as the fight with the lion shade went much smoother than he anticipated. It took him his entire third year to finish assimilating 90 percent of his liver. The last 10 percent was the hardest and took the longest time to assimilate. After another 8 months of fighting and meditation, he was almost done.
He was quite advanced for an 18-year-old. Most regular people his age would only start awakening now—perhaps the more talented ones would have already created their mana circuit, but only manaborns like him could advance so quickly.
He finished meditating and quickly washed up and went to bed as he was starting to feel tired by now.
…
“SARAH!!” he screamed and jolted awake. He was sweating all over.
‘The same nightmare again,’ he thought as he gasped for air. He took a deep breath and calmed down his heart and looked out the small window of his room. From the absence of the dark moon and the intensity of the daylight in the sky, he figured it was around noon.
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He didn’t have any work today, so he decided to go to the blacksmith shop to maintain his sword, and then roam around the city.
He didn’t like off days, it left him with nothing else to do but think. And, his thoughts would always eventually spiral to the past. His dreadful past. What he wouldn’t give to erase all those dark memories.
…
He washed up and wore fresh clothes before picking up his sword and placing it inside the sheath on his waist. He went downstairs and saw a different receptionist from the one from last night. She smiled at him to which Cal just returned a nod and stepped out of the inn.
Winters in Winterport were very harsh. Due to the island’s proximity to the Frost Sheets to the east, it was the first place in the empire to hit snowfall. The light mana inside Cal’s mana circuit kept him warm but it wasn’t as effective as fire mana, thus, he still wore a jacket. He wondered how the slaves survived the winter. Even though the city administration provided them with winter clothes, a lot of them still succumbed to hypothermia during the winter. Cal thought that it was a waste since slaves were not as common as they used to be after the Flame church banned slavery. Now only criminals were allowed to be slaves. Not that it stopped some people from circumventing that restriction. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here today.
The blacksmith’s shop was close to the port on Smith Street. The port was on the west side of the city. But before he could take another step his stomach started growling. He hadn’t had any proper food for a day, so he walked towards his favorite food cart first.
Cal saw the portly old food vendor, who greeted him the day before, cooking behind the food cart. When he saw Cal, his face brightened up.
“Cal!!” he shouted with joy in his voice. “Thank the White Flame you’re still in one piece. I was getting worried since you didn’t come for breakfast.”
“Morning Victor. It’s just the deep mines, I have been there enough to look after myself,” Cal replied.
“Still, winter’s coming who knows what sort of monster will surface due the Frost’s influence,” Victor stated. “And it’s already way past noon. You having the regular?”
“Yes,” Cal nodded with some anticipation.
“One flame-spiced chicken coming up,” replied Victor loudly. “While I don’t mind the business, you should maintain a healthy diet, Cal. You are here at least once a day ordering the same thing.”
Cal just nodded. He wasn’t really that worried about his health as mana assimilation strengthened his organs.
“There you go,” said Victor and presented a plate of flame-spiced chicken in front of Cal after a few minutes.
Cal gulped down an entire leg in seconds before making his way into the thigh.
“Slow down no one’s gonna steal it from you. You are no longer a slave, remember?” Victor commented.
Cal kept eating without slowing down. Victor just shook his head without bothering to stop him.
“You are the only guy I have seen who can eat flame-spiced chicken with such delight, most of the people who order it can’t even finish a single bite before starting to sweat. It's even labeled as a torture food in some places. I would have removed it from the menu if it weren’t for you,” Victor commented as he watched him eat.
“Why vould yoo remobe the best iteb on the mebu?” Cal asked with food in his mouth.
“Because it doesn’t sell!” Victor replied somehow deciphering his words.
As they were talking two men walked towards the food cart. They looked to be enforcers from their gait and the sword they carried. They had average builds and stern looks as they arrived in front of the cart. The bloodworm tattoo on their necks gave away their gang affiliation.
“I thought I informed you yesterday that Elmwood Street belongs to the Bloodworms now old man. If you want to do business here you gotta donate half your income to the Bloodworms from now on,” said the shorter of the two men.
Victor looked at them and said in annoyance, “I will tell you the same thing I told those damn flies. Piss off.”
“That’s some arrogance you got there, geezer. You sure you want to do this?” said the taller man.
“Ain’t no going back now,” said the short man with venom in his voice. “If every small fry starts questioning our reputation, then we will be looked down upon by the other gangs. Don’t blame us old man, you brought this upon yourself. Let’s see, I will break one of your arms and burn this cart, that way you will learn how to speak to your superiors, shithead.”
“You will down no such thing. Go away he is under my protection,” Cal ordered with a cold voice.
The two gang members looked at the back of the man sitting in front of the food cart. From their position, they couldn’t see Cal’s face.
“And who the fuck are you supposed to be? Some white knight here to save the day? You think you can do what you want just cause you got a sword? What gang are you supposed to be from, huh? Get away from here if you know what’s good for you. This is Bloodworm territory dick,” the tall man ended his speech with a heated breath. He was about to grab Cal’s shoulder when Cal turned around to face them.
The tall man gave off a loud scream before jumping back. The short man also had a fearful look on his face.
“Geh. It’s the Dawnblade!!” said the short man with a shaky voice. ‘Why is this guy here? Boss said this was an easy job. Damn it!! But still, I can’t just back down now. My reputation will be in the gutters if people hear I just ran with my tail between my legs. Fighting is out of the question, but I can act tough and use our gang’s reputation to scare him away.’
“So what if he is under your protection? Don’t underestimate the Bloodworms. What are you gonna stand here all day and guard his store? We will get him eventually,” the short man stated.
“Bro let’s run and report this to the boss this is way above our paygrade,” the tall man said in a quiet voice.
“Stop being a coward!!” the short man shouted angrily at his companion and tried to mask his fear.
“You must be first years?” Cal asked.
“That they are. One look at them and anyone can guess they are greenhorns,” commented Victor.
“Shut your damn mouth geezer!!” the small man shouted at Victor.
Cal had had enough of this charade and was about to stand up and take out his sword. The two men flinched visibly. The taller of the two grabbed a hold of the short man and pulled him away forcefully before they both ran away.
“Idiots,” Victor said. “They must have gone to report to one of their officers. It’s going to be a hassle to deal with them now.”
“Don’t bother they won’t be coming back. The officer knows what will happen if they touch anyone under my protection. They still remember what happened to the last one that tried something like that,” said Cal.
“The White Serpent extermination? Those were some scary times. All the gangs were under heavy alert. Even a small scuffle turned bloody. The city guards had to step in to stop the massacre. It’s a wonder how you’re still walking freely. If it was someone else, then they would’ve already been thrown into prison. You might have been turned into a slave again. How did you get out of that situation with nothing but a small fine?” Victor questioned.
“They were also fed up with the Serpents plus they can’t afford to put me in jail. They don’t have enough enforcers who work as hard as me,” Cal said like he was stating a fact.
“Hah. So that’s the story. People were making up rumors that you were secretly some noble offspring who had the guards in his pocket,” commented Victor while laughing.
Cal didn’t say anything and took out his purse to pay for his food, but Victor stopped him. “I’m not taking your money today young man. It would be a dishonor after all you did for me.”
“Just taking care of my favorite food stall vendor. Use my name if they still dare to come back,” Cal said and put his purse back.
“I thought you hated that nickname,” stated Victor.
“Still do. But it has its uses,” he said and started heading towards the port.