“You shouldn’t gossip about trained killers…” I felt a chill rush down my spine as I heard a cold voice softly murmur just behind me. I had to freeze time to stop myself from freaking out.

“Oh, hey Frosty! We were just talking about you. Since you’re here do you want to go shopping with us? Your clothes are all black, and it’s kind of sad. And you’re always walking around with you’re face and head covered. Doesn’t it get hot?” I tried to keep talking just to hide my nervousness, and in the end, it worked.

“Wha-what?” She stepped back slightly as if I had threatened her somehow.

“Uhm… You know, now that I think about it. You’re a noble right? What color is your hair? Is it black and white like you’re family jewel?

“D-do you mean it? I can go shopping with you?”

‘That… Was unexpected… But I’ll take it…’ “Of course!”

Frostbite.

Loyalty: 23

Opinion: 100

Intimacy: 50

Attitude: Friendly

Mental state: happy

‘You know… I’m glad the numbers are going up… I really am… But it’s annoying that I have no idea why… Or even what they mean honestly… Like what’s the difference between intimacy and opinion anyway?’

“Well, it's just that, I've never been shopping before.”

I smiled softly, and grabbed her hand, if only to make it harder for her to reach for her knives… We walked into a nearby clothing store that sold everything from sweaters, skirts, and jeans to leather armor. It was… Probably about as strange as it sounds.

Frostbite and I were amazed and astonished. We both got a little bit giddy, though I tried to hide it, and I'm sure she was doing the same.

“Why are you two so excited, this is a commoners store?” Isy said bluntly.

“Isy... The store owner can hear you.” I muttered back.

An old man walked out from behind the counter. “No no, it's fine. I actually hear that sort of thing a lot. I'm afraid I don't have many fancy or frilly outfits, but I can show you what I do have if you want.”

“Oh, sure. Thank you.” ‘wait. Isy is the one that brought us here though, she wouldn’t diss the place she picked out herself would she?’ “What did you mean that this was a commoner store anyway?”

“It's not about the quality of the clothes, it's more so about the style. Commoners don't have to worry about their appearance, so their clothes tend to be made more durable and less flashy. Designed to withstand long days of work, not dances and sparring matches. And some of the clothing is more delicate, not very durable at all, instead being soft to the touch, or designed to keep you warm or cool. Although generally, the biggest difference you will see is that commoner clothing tends to cover a lot more.”

“I see…” ‘So in other words… Comoners have better clothes with simpler designs…’

“If you want clothes for nobles, I can recommend a shop for that as well?” The man said.

“No, we're alright,” I said quickly, turning back around and looking. “What do you think, Frostbite?”

“I like this…” she grabbed a leather jacket “You asked about my hair… It’s this color… Although… My dad usually dyes it black.

She was holding a light blue leather jacket that was thick enough it might have been able to stop a blade.

“I agree it's pretty.” ‘Although now I want to see her hair even more… Is it blue? Like naturally blue?’ “Hey, what do you think of this?” I grabbed a soft pink hoody

“It's ugly.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I know, but feel it.” I pressed it against her cheek.

“It's beautiful,” she said, instantly changing her mind.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You should get this too.”

Eventually, we both left the store with a bunch of misc clothes that probably didn't match at all, making Isy more than a little annoyed, but we liked them, and seeing as how I doubted I would ever need much more than my armor, I really didn’t care. The only reason I got anything for myself was because it was cheap… To be honest, in the end, I wasn’t even sure what I got…

As I walked outside the store Frostbite was sitting on one of the steps, hunched over her knees and staring off into space with a morbid expression.

“Is something wrong?”

“No… But… Thank you…” She slowly stood up, grabbing her bags. I turned to Isy as she came out last, but after just a quick glance away she had already vanished.

“Huh? Did she leave already?”

“Yeah…” I muttered back. I couldn’t shake her expression though. ‘It was like… She was regretting something… I have a bad feeling…’

I stopped time and sharpened my senses. My eyesight tracked the dust as it moved, scattering from the rush of wind as she left across the rooftops. ‘Let’s hope she isn’t here to kill someone…’

I quickly took off after her, but even with my magic her speed was incredible. It was like she was born to run. After crossing several rooftops in the bustling cityscape I pulled up next to her, both of us coming to a dead stop, looking down at a man that wasn’t moving.

“That's a lot of blood…” I groaned, feeling my heart rate spike as I jumped down. It was only a single story so It didn’t bother me that much… But to say it didn’t bother me falling even that far, would still be a lie. “His heart's beating but he's not breathing anymore…” I looked up at her but she was just standing there with a blank expression on her face.

After a moment she jumped off and almost floated down, landing softly and hopping over next to me. “If he’s not breathing it’s too late. We would be better served tracking the others. Three sets of prints. He wasn’t dying from my attacks. I made sure not to..” She hesitantly stepped back, her eyes widening. “Not to… I didn’t leave a fatal wound… It wasn’t me…”

“A knife punctured one of his lungs. We need to roll him over on his side.”

She stood speechless. ‘Or I guess I need to roll him over on his side…’ Using my magic I managed to push him up eventually, although there was so much blood it was hard to not slip. ‘Judging from his wounds this isn’t all his… It’s like someone tried to gut a monster here…’

The stench of blood was so thick it made my nose burn and my eyes change. I could feel the heat rising in my body.

“No… No, no, no… It wasn’t… I didn’t… I’m sorry!” She continued stepping back until she hit a wall and slowly curled up next to it.

‘Come on… She’s an assassin and she freaks out when she sees blood?’ I looked back down and my stomach began to twist. ‘Seriously… How is his heart still beating…’ I calmly analyzed his wounds. The only threat was his collapsed lung… The only question was how to fix it… ‘I saw Mara do this on a horse one time after it got attacked by wolves… It’s like… The same thing right? Right… Well if I do nothing he’s dead anyway…’

The air in my lungs started coming out hot as my breath started to sound like bellowing thunder. “Frostbite! I need something hollow… And something to close the hole!”

Like a glitchy program, she appeared next to me with bandages and a knife. “It’s too late for him… It’s better to just…” Her grip on the knife loosened as I took the bandages and quickly closed up the slash marks on his chest after realizing his body was reconstructing itself. ‘What the… Is he not human? At least not fully…’ Even his lung had already completely sealed… Of course, the wound may have been fixed, but it was still collapsed. And although he was breathing slightly, it wasn’t nearly enough to keep him alive.

“I need something hollow, like a reed, or… I don’t know, any ideas?”

She looked down at her knife, slamming it into a wall and breaking the tip off before taking the blade off the handle. “Will this work?”

‘Why is it hollow…’ I looked at the jagged edge of the knife, cringing at myself for even considering using it.

“The blade is hollow so it can be filled with poison. The poison seeps into the metal impurities and melds with the blade.”

“Ok… But this one’s not poisoned right?” She threw the knife away and pulled out another one, dismantling it in the same way. ‘Glad I asked…’ Using my eyes I managed to somehow discern what I needed to do, as if my limited knowledge was being supplemented by the dragon’s blood somehow, which was burning so hot it almost started to control my movements. His lung wasn’t punctured, just collapsed, so in theory all I had to do was remove air from the chest cavity and seal the wound… Or… Something…

A wave of chills flooded threw me as I tensed up. “Sorry dead guy… If you die… Please don’t come back as a zombie!” I plunged the hollow knife into his chest four ribs down. It was the opposite of his heart, so at least I didn’t have to worry about that… But that didn’t stop me from feeling completely insane…

As the blade sank in several inches, a rush of air came out as a quiet whistle against the metal of the blade. His chest rose, and his breathing became easier. ‘You know… Maybe I am actually like the luckiest person alive after all…’

“What did you do!”

“Don't worry he'll be fine.” ‘probably… I mean, He’s breathing again… No way this guy is human… Or… Maybe I really am a genius?’ I looked down at the large hollow knife sticking out of his chest. ‘Yeah, probably the first thing.’

“What about that looks fine!”

“Air was pooling inside of the cavity where your lungs fill up. It was stopping him from breathing. I needed to get it out so that his lung could expand properly again.” ‘It’s a lot harder if there is blood in the cavity too… But his body was eating it like a mop or something… I didn’t sense any mana though…’

His breathing stabilized as I poured a small amount of magic into him. “It would be best if he didn't wake up for a while…”

“I can handle that much.” She pulled an herb from her pouch and dropped it under his nose. “Raw Melancholy flowers force you into a deep sleep if you're not careful...”

My stomach continued twisting in knots as I got back up from my knees and staggered over to the corner of a building. Forcing my eyes away from it all to try and cool my blood. ‘It’s over right? He’s alive…’ I vomited, my legs suddenly feeling so weak that I couldn’t stand, rolling back around the corner and sinking to the ground. “Frostbite…” I grumbled… “he’s alive right?”

“Mo…”

“What?” my head pounded as the dragon fell asleep and all that remained was my body's natural reactions that had been suppressed until then. ‘There’s still so much blood… Why would it go to sleep?’

“It's Mo… That’s my real name… And yes… He’s alive… If not only because he’s half troll…” She turned and ran up the side of the building, quickly disappearing from sight. At the same time, Isy finally tracked us down and stumbled upon the scene, literally shaking in her boots.

“Siya? Siya! Are you ok?”

‘I guess I am drenched in blood… I stood up and wiped my hands on my armor to try and get some of the blood off… But my armor was soaked too… Seeing it all… Made me vomit again… A part of me saw it as my own blood. I was able to put it off while things were serious… But the moment the tension started to fade it became too much to handle.