4. Being a Specialist

Eliza (15) stared at a boy. His black hair had bald spots, and his skin—as if never before been touched by the sun—was pale. He was looking at the card on the cashier’s counter, ones that contained details of her side job.

‘What’s a specialist-for-hire?’ he asked.

‘It means I do odd jobs.’ Eliza wiped her tear.

‘Odd jobs?’

‘It means I do any jobs.’

‘Anything?’ He tilted his head sideways.

‘Anything.’ Eliza nodded.

At the time, whilst still building reputation and credibility, a stack of name card was placed on the counter by the Manager for customers to maybe take and share. The cards hardly did anything, only served to give her the additional chore of having to repeat her explanation of what specialist-for-hire meant.

Eliza would have ignored this boy’s questions if he wasn’t entertaining. Something about his reaction, that smile akin to someone having found a treasure, was interesting to her; perhaps there was a reason behind that.

‘For pay?’ he followed up.

‘Depends,’ Eliza said with a matter-of-fact tone. ‘If the job is interesting, I’ll pay for the job.’

‘!’ His smile widened; his eyes sparkled. ‘Can I give you a job?’

‘Go shoot. I’m rejecting it if it’s boring though.’

‘I’ll make it sound as interesting as possible then!’

This was a story of the past, about a job that she would take in the future.

***

Eliza opened her eyes awake.

2 days until the trial…

She stared the wooden ceiling above, grasping the reality that she was in. I had a dream, she thought, of him.

Eliza rose on her bed, looked around to see that her room was still dark. Beside her, on another floor mattress, was Quin, still soundly asleep. Eliza had been sharing the room with Quin ever since the day she was hired.

… Bother.

Glug. Glug.

Eliza felt her throat; it was parched.

She touched the cold floor with her bare feet and got out of bed. Without hurry, she first did a light stretch in her pajamas by pulling her hands upward. After, she took another glance at Quin, gently fixed her blanket, and walked out of the room: through the door and into the hallway.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Eliza covered her yawn as she went past the market store’s inventory area. With the lights off, the area was dark, but Eliza had no problem navigating through; the Manager always kept this area orderly. Even with her eyes closed, she could pass through without any difficulty. This place had grown on her.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Fssh…

Reaching the back door, she grabbed the knob and pressed her head on the doorframe. Please don’t be a bore, she hoped.

Eliza opened the door and went outside.

There, in the alleyway behind the market store, she saw two people: one, a man pouring gasoline from a tank on the building; another, a woman wielding a spray paint drawing a burning skull graffiti on the wall. Arsonists. They weren’t quiet enough to be unnoticeable.

Thud! The man, seeing her, dropped the tank. Eliza hoped the sound didn’t wake anyone up; she would hate it if her efforts to be quiet was wasted. He reached inside his jacket, unfolded a knife, and pointed the glinting blade toward Eliza.

‘…’ Tears welled in her eyes.

***

‘What makes Eliza the Still formidable, you ask?’ Rigor rubbed his chin.

The bald man was being locked inside an isolation cell. The only lighting there was a narrow ray that slipped through the sliding rectangular eyehole.

‘It’s her kick,’ he answered. ‘Damned deadly weapon, they are. Must’ve trained it by hitting iron or something. If you tell me she can chop down trees by kicking them, damn, I will believe that. Don’t even get me started on how bad her kick gets when she uses anima…

‘Huh? You don’t know anima? Even though you have an ability? Maybe you’re more familiar with the term ki, or tao, or mana. No?

‘… You must be one of those born with an ability then. Makes me somewhat envious. Fine. I’ll run you through on what anima is.

‘Anima—’

***

‘—is lifeforce.’

The knife-wielder rushed toward Eliza. In response to this assault, Eliza—stood still. Stab!

‘Anima-users are people who could wield their own lifeforce. Like a sort of aura that you can wear. Non-existent as air, but as real as an actual armor. Used defensively, good anima-users could protect themselves from most weapons.’

The knife was pressed into Eliza’s gut, but the blade did not sink in. Surprised by this unexpected outcome, he pushed with more strength, but nothing changed: the blade remained unsinking. As if an invisible impregnable metal stood in the way.

‘Used offensively, it’s like wearing a knuckleduster, but worse.’

Eliza threw a light sidekick, an attack that, at a glance, prioritized more on speed and contact than damage. The moment her shin touched his shoulder—Wham! He was blown away by an unnatural force and crashed to the graffiti-stained wall.

‘That’s why, despite her build, her kick hit like a train.’

Having dealt with one of the arsonists, Eliza stared at the other one. The woman had matchsticks on her hand; a swipe was all that was left to light it afire. Upon exchanging stares with Eliza, however, she chose to throw the matchsticks away and make an immediate run.

‘That’s—’

***

‘—anima, at the basics. Something you usually need to get good at before developing an ability,’ Rigor concluded his explanation. ‘Hm? That’s not what you wanted to know? You want to know about her ability?

‘Eliza the Still didn’t even use her ability against me…’

The eyehole was immediately slid shut, and Rigor was left in the darkness.

***

Eliza grabbed the escaping arsonist by her collar.

‘Please!’ she begged, terror in her voice. ‘Spare—’

Eliza placed a finger in front of her own lips. ‘Shh.’

Understanding the gesture, the arsonist nodded obediently and kept her mouth shut.

‘Why are you doing this?’ Eliza asked, referring to the poured gasoline and the graffiti.

‘I-I-I was hired to. Said I gotta make flashy arsons. The bigger the better.’

‘… Who hired you?’

‘I-I don’t know. I swear. The person was very very secretive.’

‘Why was this place chosen as your target?’

‘I was ordered to.’

‘…’ Ever since hearing that her would-be-opponent was a specialist, Eliza had been expecting assaults on the market store. However, sending arsonists, disappointing ones at that, was not what she expected of the specialist. This is just a prod, Eliza thought, to get a glimpse of what I can do.

A cautious opponent who doesn’t rush… Eliza wiped her teary eyes with her wrist. Against that type of opponent, the peace that had thus far persisted only felt like the calm before the storm. I look forward to when my opponent shows up.

‘Alright,’ Eliza was rather satisfied, ‘I’ll make it painless.’

‘Wha—’

Shi. Eliza threw a clean jab on the arsonist’s jaw, knocking her unconscious. She laid her gently on the ground beside her crony.

Eliza glanced at the market store’s back door. She had left it opened.

‘… You’re awake?’

Having been spotted, Quin came into view. Despite the sight, her face remained expressionless.

‘It’s a bother, you know,’ Eliza said, ‘cleaning up your mess.’

‘?’ Quin tilted her head sideways.

‘You’re not even aware of what you started... Forget it. Want to help tying them up?’

‘…’ She nodded.