"So did you hear?"

"Hear what? Oi!! Another beer!"

"The rumors running through the entire capital right now of course."

"There's always rumors running through this god forsaken capital, so which one got you all excited now."

"No, this one is different, they say..." The man looked around and began to whisper. "They say the princess ran away with a man."

"...That's it? Who cares if she ran away. It ain't the first time and she'll get caught and whoever helped her will get their whole family line murdered because of it."

"No of course that isn't it...they say she ran away with a man...a man wielding a spear...a spear covered in black flames."

The other man seemed to sober up instantly after hearing the supposed rumor.

He even ignored the beer the waitress eventually brought to the table.

"...We should probably leave the capital...no the country."

-A bar in the land of Elves

I wonder how I should handle this. Do I just tell him what happened and tell him what I plan to do? I don’t know if he’ll be okay with me plotting to separate the arm of one his members. What if he was the one who ordered him to hurt me? Hm, it’s possible but for some reason I doubt it. Well, I don’t want Richard to become an enemy, but I need that arm. I have a feeling if I have to concede getting my revenge something in me would be disgusted by it.

It's another one of those feelings I can’t fully explain, but that’s the vibe I’m getting.

Anyway.

I don’t want this situation to become more than what it needs to be, but I won’t back down from what I want. If I have to fight their entire group, then so be it. Though for now I won’t jump to any conclusions, lets just play it by ear and react accordingly. Well, here he is so let’s see how this goes.

“Hey man you don’t look too good. Are you sure you should be up and moving right now? I can help get the things you need so you can back and rest. Just let me know.” Said a very concerned Richard.

If he really was okay with what his member did and is faking all of this, then he really is phenomenal actor. He genuinely seems concerned for my wellbeing. I’ll believe him for now.

“I feel a lot better than I look, thanks for worrying.”

“I see…I heard Jax was the one that helped you out, was everything alright there? I know he had some misgivings about the first time you guys met.”

At the mention of the of person whom I desperately want to bring harm to, it felt like my…blood? I think it was my blood, anyway it felt angry. I’ll ignore it for now, not much I can do anyway. Moving on, he heard this ‘Jax’ took helped me out huh. I suppose that probably means he didn’t order that, nor is aware of what really happened.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Maybe I can tell him.

Let’s see what happens.

“He told you he helped me out?”

“Yes. Apparently, you were so hurt after reaching the Outpost that you could barely walk, and he took it upon himself to help you get back to your house.”

Now that I think about it, how did he know where I lived? I mean I guess it wouldn’t be that hard to see me coming and going from my house. Hm, no use in worrying too much about it now.

We were standing next to the shop so I looked around and listened as intently as I could to make sure no one else was around us before I started speaking to Richard.

“Yea, he did help me. He brought me to my house opened the door, threw me down to the floor, kicked me in my stomach, said some nasty words then knocked me clean out. If that’s what you mean by help, then yea he did that just fine.”

With every word Raizen spoke, Richard’s face grimaced even more, and by the time he finished his face was wound up in a tight frown.

“What do you mean…-”

“Richard. You heard what I said.”

“No…why…we talked about this…why…”

Hm, based on his reaction he really didn’t seem to have played a part and this Jax guy attacked me on his own. Well, that should make things easier. Seems like only one person will have to lose their arm. For now.

“Richard. I don’t know what you all have worked out, but due to our budding alliance I will be upfront with you. I am furious, and there WILL be a price. A price that your friend WILL pay. And he will pay it today.”

I was a bit more willful in my last sentence, but I had to get my point across. Since I’ve started this Tutorial, I’ve been losing my calm more than I’ve ever did in my life. I don’t know if its stress, or just all of new things like fighting with my life on the line, or meeting aliens; whatever it is, I’m starting to think it’s a much deeper reason for it.

Anyway, Richard has been staring at me intensely after I told him there will be a price to pay for his friend’s actions. I won’t back down on this, so I hope he won’t fight me on it. It is not my fault his people didn’t have manners. It is also not his fault that the fact I’m an Infernal is clearly influencing me in some way, and in this moment that influence is driving me to violence. Violence that I now very much welcome.

“…I understand your anger, but we can handle this differently. We don’t need to kill each other, not when there’s other monsters out there who want to kill us. As humans we should be banding together during this rough period.”

On one hand I understand him, what he’s saying makes sense, but on the other hand I also have my own ideals, and none of them include forgiving unprovoked attacks on me. The fact I’ve decided not to kill him is forgiving enough as it is.

“I understand, but I am not budging. Actions have consequences Richard. This is his. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to stop our cooperation, and I don’t plan on going around looking for fights with anyone other than monsters, but this is different, make no mistake I am not asking for permission. Like I said earlier, He WILL pay a price.”

Unbeknownst to Raizen, when he said that last line, his irises turned to black flames for a split second and then returned to normal. Even Richard who was staring at Raizen the entire time missed it. Who knows what he would’ve thought if he saw it.

“I…I understand. I don’t agree, but It’s not my place to intervene any more than I’ve already done. I tried to stop him from doing anything stupid, but he clearly didn’t listen.

“He brought this on himself.

“I won’t stand in your way, but I cannot promise that no one else will bother you. I am not a dictator, and I can’t force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. What I will do is let them know what he did and what’s coming. All I’m asking is that you give me time to do this. After that you can do whatever you want.”

Hm, Richard seemed clearly messed up about all of this, I can’t blame him I guess. Either way I suppose I can let him do this, I just hope he doesn’t try to run away. Oh, wait I got an idea.

“Fine, I still have things to do so use this time to do what you need. After I finish up, I’ll be waiting outside the Outpost, tell your man and whoever wants to join him where I’ll be. Though I want you to warn them that I only have a problem with one person, and anyone who joins should be prepared not to come back.”

I told myself I wouldn’t kill Jax, and only take an arm, but If anyone else wants to join him, the warning I just gave to Richard is mercy enough. I don’t want to go around killing people but if they support an idiot enough to join him then they can also pay a price.

“….Raizen…sigh…never mind…I’ll take care of it.”

I hope he takes care of it.

Anyway, time for a new spear.