Hard work and diligence are the parents of good fortune.

- A Quassian Aphorism.

We walked among them, unstopped, barely drawing a glance from the people here. I walked with a heavy tread, a fell purpose guiding me as I lusted to settle a five-year-old score with the adventurer Guy. The man who had dared try to humiliate me in front of Zariyah. He would pay dearly for his temerity.

“What about all the servants?” Larynda asked hesitantly, dodging a drunk man’s hands. Befuddled, he crooned after her.

“Save for Theophania, I judge them all to be complicit to one degree or another. We’ve talked about this before. Your job is to get her to safety; I’ll bear the rest of the responsibility. You are too young to bear certain necessary sins,” I assured her. “And, this is not the time for second guesses. Think of the many we will save by clearing out this den. Also, see that man with his grubby hands on Theo? He’s an adventurer. I suspect the Guild is in bed with the Bulls, at least on some level.”

I paused for a moment, watching her expression cloud. “Perhaps, that was harsh. Still, I will at least try to spare them when I can.”

“I see why it’s necessary, but I don’t have to like it,” she grumbled as we made our way to help Theophania.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I do believe the lady is being inconvenienced,” I said with mock politeness, tapping one of the men on the shoulder.

“Get lost. You can take a turn once we’re done,” Guy’s companion replied rudely without looking at me.

He received a solid punch to his temple for his impoliteness, knocking him out cold.

Guy tried to draw a non-existent weapon from his waist. It was almost anti-climactic when Larynda slit his throat as efficiently as she had with the guard outside. He fell to the ground like his friend, clutching his throat and trying in vain to stem the life essence bleeding away.

A part of me felt slightly cheated.

Larynda slipped off her veil for a moment as she regarded Theo.

“Don’t talk, Elenora is waiting for us. We are going to get you out of here,” she explained, covering up her face again as she offered her a hand.

Theo nodded mutely in weak understanding. Her eyes were hollow and haunted from her ordeal here. I knew that this city bred a certain unpalatable wickedness, but this was really beyond the pale.

“Go now,” I commanded. “Protect the girl.”

Together, the two girls left, Larynda walking confidently but slowly as she pulled Theophania along. Theo's steps were halting and unsure, and she frequently looked back as if fearing pursuit. Soon enough, however, they escaped, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The complicated part was finally over. Now, it was time to shoot some fish in a barrel. After all, the venue represented an excellent opportunity to help grind up my Inferno Bolt’s level.

Grinning optimistically, I picked up an iron piece of cutlery and eyed the musician who was lost in the trance of his own melody. I let fly with an Inferno Bolt, and his screams became a high musical counterpoint. As the man expired, clutching his precious instrument even in the throes of a painful death, I idly wondered how long it would take before I could summon or force the boss to spawn.

*****

Collateral damage. I had finally become powerful enough to give it some consideration and tried keeping a rough tally of my mistakes as I proceeded in cutting out the heart of the Bulls of Heaven.

A number that I soon realized I had trouble focusing on. It did not matter. It did not help that I was also being rewarded with more experience points for each of my ‘mistakes.’

Greater Drain was a particularly bad culprit, especially when paired with Improved Entropic Aura. With some reluctance, I decided to use Holy Aura instead. The dark voices shrilled in protest and clawed at my mind, but I ignored them, trying to better fulfill my promise.

The constant healing of Holy Aura was not comparable to using Greater Drain on live targets, but I didn’t have to worry about sucking the life out of unintended victims. I had promised Larynda that I would make at least a token effort; it was the honorable thing to do.

I shone with holy light, a divine radiance, shining and gold. The villains in this den now knew that judgment had finally come for them. Their faces all started to look the same, evil things that were the source of the darkness in the city. Man or woman, my hammer was the punishment for their dark and evil deeds.

“Know that the light of justice shines even in the darkest places,” I declared to those who remained, my words echoing above the sounds of the injured and dying.

Some had foolishly tried to escape, but justice had flown at them on wings of searing metal, teaching them the error of their ways.

Purpose filled me as I knew I was doing the right thing. My weapon whirled in a dark arc, smashing another evildoer off their feet. Why did the guilty always resist? Why could they not simply accept the punishment that awaited them?

You have slain a human 10 experience gained.

An innocent wailed in contrition. Regrettably, a brigand with a silver badge on his chest used her as a shield. Unfortunately for the pair, human flesh made for a poor defense against absolute justice. An Improved Power Strike was more than enough to knock them both down into a mess of smashed flesh and broken bones.

You have slain a human 15 experience gained.

You have slain a human 10 experience gained.

Holy messages from on high rained down upon me, showing that mine was the right path. Notifications of experience gained were a sign that I should do more.

In the throes of my righteous crusade, I received a divine revelation, a reward for following this most noble path. Inspired, I saw that I needed to time my blows to the rhythm of the light, the voices of heaven informed me.

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I was becoming more, something beyond even the Goddess herself, a golden choir whispered, their voices hauntingly familiar yet disturbingly different.

Yet, I did not doubt them, for there could be no doubt in the execution of true justice. It was a simple right or wrong with nothing in between. No shades of grey.

I smashed my hammer into the face of another wrongdoer who had chosen to raise a weapon against the Chosen. Make no mistake, I was the chosen. I was special.

Yes, more words of the revelation.

You have slain a human 15 experience gained.

You have gained 1 Wisdom.

You have learned Holy Aura (lvl.4)

You have learned Holy Strike (lvl.1).

By accepting the words I had grown in Wisdom. So it was written, more assurances of the righteousness of my actions.

Suddenly, from across the hall came a booming voice.

“So the Council has grown tired of our pact! Lazarian scum, untrustworthy desert dogs!” a large man declared. “I am almost insulted that they send only one, shiny Dust Dervish or no,” he chortled. “I have slain your kind before Sleeper, it was the very reason that the Council would treat with us in the first place.

My response was weighty silence.

It had come, the head of the serpent and one of the roots of evil in this city.

The word ‘big’ was a woeful understatement for the mountain of a man who loomed before me in this underground hall. If he could be called a man at all, for he seemed more beast than human. Almost as wide as he was tall, his presence was a living testament to raw, unyielding power. No helm protected his head; instead, he chose to bear his visage openly, exposing a fierce and rugged. His armor was a patchwork of boiled leather and black lacquered plates that clacked ominously with each movement, adding a sinister rhythm to his approach.

Draped around his neck was a necklace strung with fangs and tusks of unknown creatures. His hands, large as hams, gripped two scimitars of equal length, their blades gleaming with swift and merciless death.

He was flanked by what looked like three wolves. I say looked like wolves, for they were the size of small cows. Their coats ranged from iron grey, midnight sable, to pure snow white. The animals snarled at me, padding around him as a loyal and primal guard.

My grip tightened around the haft of my instrument of justice, my Lucerne hammer, Bellringer. Bathed by the gold of Holy Aura, the cold Shocksteel of the polearm's head reflected my sure purpose. The air between us crackled with tension, a silent whisper of violence. I took a step forward, the sound of my boot on the hard stone floor, a counterpoint to the menacing clack of his armor.

With a roar, he charged, the ground seeming to shake beneath his massive weight, smashing through an overturned table. The wolves spread out, flanking me, their growls rising to a fever pitch. I swung my weapon with one hand in a wide arc, its head whistling through the air with the power of the Divine behind it. He somehow managed to parry my Holy Strike with one of his scimitars.

The clash of metal rang in my ears as a small explosion of light was released at the contact. Such was the force of my blow that it forced the monster to fall on one knee, and such was the impact that it sent a jolt up my arm. But I held firm and twisted the haft to hook the scimitar with the spike end of my weapon, pulling at it to open him up for another attack.

Any other mortal blade, I was sure, would have been reduced to a bent and broken mess by the exchange. It seemed that he too bore a magical weapon, possibly two of them.

Suddenly, his other blade shot out in response. The blow was expected, for Fen would often fight me with two weapons, and I blocked it on an armored forearm, my Mimic reinforcing the armor there. The look of surprise on his face was sweet nectar. Only fifteen points of damage to my Mimic’s Health, a truly pitiful display.

The wolves lunged, adding their fangs and claws to the contest. I sidestepped, bringing the spiked butt of my Lucerne down on the iron-grey one’s massive head with another small explosion of light and a sickening crunch. It yelped, expiring soon after and the message from heaven confirmed it. Enraged, the white wolf growled and snapped at my legs, but I pivoted, driving the spike of my weapon into its flank. Blood spurted from the wound, and it let out a pained howl.

My opponent seized the moment of my distraction, his scimitars slicing through the air towards me. I deflected the first strike with the haft of my hammer, the force nearly knocking me off balance despite my superior strength. However, the second blade altered its trajectory mid-arc, snaking past my guard to split open chainmail links and cut into flesh. I was sure that a line of searing pain would have bloomed along my upper arm were it not for my Improved Pain Nullification skill.

Grinning in sure superiority, I retaliated with a powerful overhead two-handed swing. He blocked it, but the sheer force drove him back a step.

Like that, we fought. I could have slain him a hundred times over, but I used the time wisely instead. It was the perfect opportunity to practice some of the moves and skills I had learned in the Dust Dream. Old lessons, their meaning engraved in my almost automatic movements, spoke their words to me, Fen’s voice their narrator in my mind. She always did go on about the stupid circle.

However, all lessons must have an ending. A conclusion.

We faced each other, my opponent panting and bloodied. A stillness before the last exchange.

“You are not from the Council… are you? Your scent is different,” the large man spat out, frustration and bitterness lacing his voice. “All of this death… for what? We paid you lot a fortune!”

As if reinforcing his words, The last remaining wolf barked at me.

“I, the Council, owe you no answer, but let us just say I did for the experience of it,” I answered with a laugh. “You and your organization have inconvenienced a lot of good people. I also made a promise to a little girl.”

He looked at me utterly perplexed. “A weighty oath it must have been for you to make an enemy of the Bulls of Heaven…. You are worthy of my name…”

I shook my head in mock sadness, shaking a finger at him. “Shhh…. Shhh, I simply do not care,” I cut in. “And, it was no weighty oath at all, just a whim really. Also, if this is all you can offer then the Bulls of Heaven will make for no enemies at all.”

Puzzlement turned to shock, turned to anger and he rushed at me, crying out in his frustrated rage.

The white and dark wolves let loose a wild howl, but I kept my focus on the giant before me. He swung again, wild, brutal arcs. I ducked one of his blades, sensing it rush over my head, and parried the other. Disengaging my weapon, I lunged forward, using the momentum to drive the spike of my weapon into his thigh. Sparks of energy were released as the magical wood of his armor first resisted penetration. However, my weapon would not be denied and it stabbed through, breaking apart the wooden plate to bury deep into the muscle beneath. He bellowed in pain, staggering, but he did not fall.

Instead, he brought both scimitars down in a savage cross-cut aimed at my neck. Expecting the force, I bent my knees and blocked with the haft of my hammer, stopping the blades. I twisted the weapon, locking us in a bind, and aimed a kick at his knee. His joint bent at an odd angle and he toppled, crashing to the ground with a thunderous roar, his scimitars clattering away.

The wolves hesitated, their eyes darting between their fallen master and me. Seizing the moment, I brought my hammer down with a final, decisive blow to the giant’s chest. He grunted in paint, and yet again, the wood of his armor flared light in protest. A second blow however punched through and the sound of breaking bones and his last, gurgling breath filled the chamber, adding to the songs of the dead and dying.

You have slain a human 210 experience gained.

You have gained 1 Strength.

With their master dead, the wolves looked torn between flight and fight, snarling at me. I stood over the fallen behemoth, my chest heaving, not with strain, but with satisfaction.

In my heart of hearts, I knew that the animals had been broken. I let go of my Holy Aura, the light fading away from me, and bent down to pick up a spilled drumstick from the floor and threw it to the two wolves. They looked at each other hesitantly before fighting over the morsel.

I laughed as the final notification filled my inner vision.

You have learned Monster Taming (lvl.3)