Once again, the door to the training ground opened, but instead of a giant entering, a line of people exited. Jaeger in the lead, dried blood under his chin and peeking out from under his shirt as he pulled on his jacket. Then came Lisette, looking nauseous, as if she'd just seen something grisly and unnerving. Jin followed her, a glowing hand rubbing her back, soothing, and a pensive look on his face. Finally, Lorcan walked in the back, he seemed unperturbed, if anything he seemed eager to talk.

“That was a fascinating ritual, thank you for honoring me by allowing me to observe it. We have something similar on my world.”

Jaeger waved his arm at the blacksmith.

“That wasn't nothing. As my blacksmith, you should know what happens to the weapons you deliver to me.”

Though he said it easily and without any real thought, Jaeger meant it; as if it were as true as there was a sun in the sky.

Lorcan moved forward, catching up to Jaeger.

“Still to see a man bind his weapon. It is a sacred thing where I come from, the ritual may be different, but the sentiment remains true. Usually only shown to the most trusted, for if others found out, they could exploit any perceived weakness in the weapon.”

Jaeger turned to the taciturn giant with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you implying the ax you made has a weakness?”

Lorcan made eye contact with Jaeger, the goliath’s eyes gaze was strong and firm like a godly anvil.

“I do not make perfect weapons, but I do make them without faults or weaknesses. Did you not inspect it?”

“I didn’t. I was planning to go over the changes while I ate, that's why I invited you. I’m also feeling a tugging in my guts that’s telling me if I don’t eat soon I’m liable to do something dangerous.”

His stomach rumbled violently; he hadn't asked Jin, but the way he described the healing, it seemed like his body was supplying a lot of the energy. If so, it certainly explained his ravenous hunger; he had been healed of three fatal wounds in one day.

“Understandable, I am hungry too. It was difficult to bring out the potential and desires of your axe. I was unaware of the history between you and it.”

Jaeger was about to ask about that when a sudden shout interrupted him.

“How can you two even consider eating? We just watched Jaeger decapitate himself less than two hours ago!” Lisette practically screamed.

Jin hurried to catch up, she'd rushed forward to confront the two men.

“Lisette, I didn't decapitate myself, I hit my spine and stopped. A near-death experience is just another day on the job for me. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been killed. At least here there are people like Jin, people who know what they're doing. Back in Beseria, I'd have to go to a charm-chirurgeon and hope they weren't planning on experimenting on me or trying out some newfangled technique.” He spat to the side, before muttering. “Goddamn monsters.”

Thinking about those 'men of healing', Jaeger wondered if he should let Jin inspect his insides. He'd been experimented on by them and he knew that some organs had moved, he'd felt the shift when it happened. He was pretty sure that something extra had been added after he had been burned by cannon fire at the Battle of Ostragar. He hadn't suffered from any sickness, disease, or poison since. In the end, he decided to wait until he knew the man better, or until something went wrong with him.

“To blood bond a weapon is to accept a certain amount of risk. I have seen men disembowel themselves to achieve what Jaeger has.” Lorcan added solemnly before making a quick hand gesture. “This was a fairly clean and quick affair, not to mention he had the services of a skilled healer. A luxury in situations like this.”

Lisette fell silent. Jin put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze.

“I understand where you are coming from, Jaeger's ease in performing the task was eye-opening, but he has lived a different life than you.” Jin spoke softly to her, before looking up at Jaeger. “That being said. Jaeger, if the task had been to fatally burn yourself or immerse yourself in fire, would you have done it so easily?”

Jaeger scoffed.

“Course not. Burns are one of the worst things, I've seen too many people die a slow death from them.”

Jin smiled while Lisette looked up at Jaeger, a flicker of emotion crossing her face.

“How would you react to someone who could burn themselves as easily as you just wounded yourself?”

“Were they dealing with a situation like mine? And did they have access to similar healing?”

“The situation required them to fully immerse themselves in a fire and survive. They had a healer with them, but part of their situation required them to have prolonged pain. The situation left them with minimal scars, but all the pain.”

“Then I'd say they were a damn sight braver than me. Fire is one of the few things I'm not so cavalier about.”

“Lisette did just that in order to master something of hers. I won't tell you what it was, but she had to go through a ritual where she was immersed in a roaring fire. And while she was being healed, the pain was made to remain.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Jaeger looked at the woman in question.

“Impressive. I won't say I underestimated you, you're too knowledgeable for that, but I believed you to be more of a scholar than a fighter, this certainly changes you in my eyes.”

Indeed, to Jaeger, it offered insight into her pain tolerance and tenacity. Good qualities for a fighter.

Lisette stood up straighter and rushed forward with a renewed sense of confidence, passing a smiling Jin.

“And you know what I did after that? I ate the roy… I mean my father’s kitchen clean. It was a day to remember. Come on, the guild's not my father's kitchen, but it's quite good.” Lisette stumbled a bit over her words, but Jaeger decided not to voice his growing suspicions. Instead, he just nodded and went with the princess into hiding.

----------------------------------------

The guild's dining hall proved to be more than fine; to Jaeger, it was on par with the few holiday celebrations he'd attended. Having finished his meal, Jaeger sat back and was about to light a cigarette when he noticed the eager, stern, and annoyed looks of the three people he was sharing a table with.

“Jaeger if you don’t get on with your notifications Jin might need to heal you up again.” Lisette said, holding her fork threateningly.

With a soothing gesture, Jaeger focused on the notifications he had ignored.

Weaponry added to Armory of the Armiger:

Necessity (pistol)

The Huntsman (rifle)

The Bounty Hunter’s Companion (axe)

Armory of the Armiger

[cursed]

A bracelet that once belonged to a royal family. The royal family died defending their lands from apocalyptic destruction, but this bracelet survived. Having developed a low consciousness, it curses anyone who wears it to never wield a weapon it has not consumed, believing that only it can protect its wearer.

Cursebound, once on, it won't come off until the wearer dies.

The Armory can hold a number of weapons equal to the number of beads on it. Once placed inside, the weapons become unbreakable and linked to the bracelet, and has a resummon ability.

Weapons not placed inside the bracelet cannot be wielded.

Requirement for placement: Bearer must be fatally wounded by the weapon.

Weaponry: 3/???

Jaeger shared the information with the others, including the names of his weapons.

“Huh. I didn't take you for a guy who names his weapons. I guess I learn something new every day.”

“Well, you didn't learn anything new today. I don't name my weapons. I have no idea where the names come from.”

As she thought, Lisette tapped her fork on her plate.

“Well that’s interesting, let’s consider then.” She put down the fork and held up three fingers, putting one down as she spoke. “The axe is easy. Lorcan remade it, and the system will name weapons if they are of high enough quality. Was it Lorcan?”

The blacksmith was still eating, hurrying to swallow his last bite, he took a sip from his tankard and replied.

“Yes.”

Lisette looked at him, waiting to hear more, but the blacksmith, having answered the question, went back to eating. Sighing, she shook her head and wiggled her two remaining fingers.

“But now we come to your guns. You claim not to have named them, and while I believe you, this raises two questions. Who named them? Or when did the system name them? Were they named when you got here?”

Jaeger thought back to that fateful day. It had been a busy time, full of magic notes and flashing lights. He remembered a partial message from his would-be captors, he remembered being named, classified, and dropped off, he even remembered when the system decided to change his weapons and powder horn. But try as he might, he didn't remember them getting named.

“The system didn’t name them, or at least I don’t recall. But I’ve used them since, so wouldn’t I have seen the name of them?”

“Maybe.” She loses herself in thought again, but slaps her forehead, a look of embarrassment on her face. “Of course they weren't named. I'm an idiot. Jaeger, when you first joined the guild, do you remember when I gave you your introduction? We tested your weapons, magic, and skills? If any of your equipment had been named, it would have registered.”

What she said made sense, because that was when he learned not only that he had magic but what his was called.

“Sure as sure.”

“The only other explanation I can think of is that your item, the Armory, caused your weapons to be recognized and named.” She started toying with her fork, trying to piece something together in her mind. “But I wonder about the origin of the names. Names always mean something when they come from the system. So why is your pistol called Necessity? I understand the axe and the rifle, they're based on you or what you do. But the pistol? What about what you do is Necessity?”

With all the talk about his axe and rifle names being about him. Jaeger had an idea where his pistol got its name, something that was important to who he was. A line from the Bounty Hunter's Creed immediately came to mind.

“Capture by design, kill by necessity.”

“What?”

“It's part of the Bounty Hunter's Creed, or Beseria's Bounty Hunter's Creed, it's one of the things I live my life by. If I am pursuing a bounty and the goal is capture or kill, I only kill when I have to. And usually the weapon that ended those bounties was my pistol.”

The table fell silent. Lisette's expression grew more solemn, Jin became thoughtful, and Lorcan seemed appreciative.

“If the rest of your code is like that, I think I will enjoy working with you.”

Lisette took a sip of water before whistling softly.

“As far as I know, the bounty hunters of Ragaea, or at least here on Klangdor, do not have any sort of code or creed. I would be interested to hear the rest of your creed sometime. Learning more about Outworlders is always useful, but this creed of yours could set a precedent for all other Bounty Hunters.”

Jin didn't speak, he just sat there, seemingly lost in thought.

Jaeger shrugged his shoulders at Lisette.

“I have no problem with that. I will say that the Creed is not easy. It was created in a time of lawlessness to curb the tendencies of dangerous men and women.”

The meal continued, and things lightened up as the group moved on to other topics. Lisette told a story about a new adventurer who lost his metal armor to a rust slime. Lorcan talked about how he had expanded his dwelling to include a bathtub he could fit in, and the problems it caused his neighbors whose rooms he had broken into.

Jaeger told a story about a bounty he had caught coming out of an outhouse and how the man had fled from him, pants around his ankles, through a busy main street. Even Jin came out of his thoughts and told a story, telling of the numerous times he'd been asked to heal ‘burns’ or ‘rashes’ and the excuses people gave him for how they got him. One of his favorites was when a man told him that he had taken a bolt of fire to his groin, causing the burns, only for Jin to point out that the man was of the jinn; and thus immune to fire. The group had a good laugh.

Soon things began to calm down, and Jaeger finally asked Lisette something he'd been thinking about for a few days.

“Lisette. I'm ready for my next bounty, who needs hunting?”