John was tired.

Spartans did not easily tire, that was for sure, but John had just wrestled some kind of giant bear with scales to the ground, and it'd gotten some pretty good hits on him. Afterward, he'd been forced to use three or four rockets to finally kill the thing, and he and his allies had skinned and cleaned it. Now they were in a city, and everyone was acting strange. Far stranger than usual.

Toting the corpse of the bear over one shoulder with Jonas and Paika following close behind, he made for an intimidating figure. But even with his armor and visor, the massive circle of space everyone gave him seemed a bit excessive. There wasn't a single person within fifty feet of him, and doors and windows slammed shut as he walked past. Nobody was even looking in his direction.

"Dang, these guys are a bit xenophobic, right?" Jonas muttered out of the side of his mouth, and Paika raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "Where in the world did you learn that word?" Jonas merely grinned in response, and she looked ahead once again, eyes narrowed.

John ignored them, opting to go straight ahead. The bear stank of blood and death, a smell that John was familiar with. Cortana's voice appeared in his helmet, a quiet, worried tone. "I have a bad feeling about this. Keep your eyes up."

The Chief turned left, looking up at the guildhall. It was a relatively impressive building, with several large white pillars in the front. For some strange reason, the doors looked brand new. Hefting the bear's corpse, he headed on inside.

The atmosphere changed in an instant as he opened the doors, the mood dropping like a rock in an empty well. Everyone flinched, from the smallest goblin to the fifteen-foot ogre in the back, and kept their heads down.

John was beginning to get really worried. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but for some reason, everyone in this whole town seemed to be afraid of him. Granted, he was carrying a giant bear, but he could've been holding a dragon's head and it wouldn't be giving the same reaction that this was.

With a mental sigh, he walked towards the counter where the operators were. As he did, the assorted people in the guildhall picked up their tables, benches and all, and moved them out of the way. The ogre even leaned over to help a crew of orcs pull a long table bolted to the ground out of the floorboards, scooting it to the side. Behind John, everyone out of his eyeshot stood up and hurriedly left, quiet and almost organized in their evacuation of the guildhall.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He made it to the counter and removed the corpse from his shoulder, looking down at the trembling teenager in front of him. "I'm here to sell this bear." His voice was low and calm, with a hint of imposing command deep in its tone.

The teenage boy running the counter nodded shakily, trying for a wavery grin. "Uhhh, certainly, sir. I can sure doom that - I mean do that! - for you. Like, right now if you want just please don't kill me..." He trailed off into a whisper, scrambling to hurl himself beneath the counter. The sound of scrabbling came from behind the counter, and after a few moments, the boy stood up, his hair sticking in every direction. His ally was trying to subtly leave through the back door, but when John glanced at him, he leaped into a corner and started busily checking off a blank piece of paper.

In front of John, the bear's corpse turned to blue light and disappeared. The boy held out his hand, and a generous amount of gold appeared in his palm. Too generous, in fact.

"That's at least ten times what that bear was worth, unless it was rare." Cortana muttered in his ear. John stared at the boy, who quailed back in visible terror.

Finally, he asked, "What's going on?"

The boy nearly wet himself. "Is something wrong!?" As his voice rose in pitch, cracking wildly, almost half of the guildhall promptly left. They filed out with shocking speed and cooperation, nearly silent in its execution.

John's eyes narrowed, and the boy clearly felt it. Swallowing hard, he asked, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" He was trying to keep his voice steady, and failing miserably. John still was confused as to why everyone was so blatantly terrified of him.

Jonas leaned forward with a ready grin, putting his elbows on the counter. "Well if you happened to know where the prettiest OOF." His sentence was cut off abruptly as Paika jabbed a sharp and well-aimed elbow into his ribs, and he was sent into a coughing fit.

John ignored them once again. "Why are you afraid of me?"

The boy grinned in an unhinged panic. "Wh-what? Is that bad? I'm not scared of you! Unless that's good. I'm freaking out! You terrify me! Is that a good thing or a bad thing!?" As he rambled on, his eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head, and he keeled over, crashing into the wooden floor. He was definitely passed out.

John looked at his coworker, and the hapless teen nearly jumped out of his skin. "Please don't look at me I don't wanna die why did I have to be a guildmaster..." The garbled sentence erupted from his mouth as though it had been forced through his lips, but the boy dragged himself over to the counter regardless. Leaning down stiffly, he picked up the dropped gold and put it on the counter in front of John, shrinking as he did.

Sighing internally, John took the gold and tucked it away. Whatever was going on, it could wait until tomorrow. There were far worse things to deal with, and they took priority over the evident panic that everyone was having towards him.

Turning around, he was unsurprised to find the guildhall entirely vacant.