“Good evening, good sir, I heard you required assistance?”

“No thank you, I’m good!” the young man quickly said, nearling biting his tongue. He twirled in the other direction and marched off, regretting that he ever took shelter in the shade of a house far from the busy streets of the village.

L grasped his shoulders, holding him in place. “Let. Me. Help. You,” he said, tightening his grasp. A full faced smile showed all of L’s bright teeth.

The young man swallowed heavily. He was in his low twenties, with barely a beard to his boyish face, and a long and scrawny body. Sweat drenched his shirt. “No, really! I don’t need no help for anything. I got nothing for you to...kill or whatever it is that you do,” he said, unkindly.

“Really? One of my friends saw you contract the blacksmith for a shiny sword. What was that for, if nothin'?”

“Nothin’, I really. Each man is by law required to keep a sword on his belt, just in case a-”

“Nonsense,” L said, shaking his head. “Law requires you to keep a weapon, not a new one, and not a sword. You already had a rusty ol’ spear, but you got a new sword. Why get one that’s extra sharp?”

The kid nearly jumped out of his boots. His face opened wide then crumbled upon itself in fear. “H-H-H-How did you know!” he said, his entire body shaking.

L huffed dramatically, folding his arms. “You think the guards warned you not to mess with me for no reason?” Dark Mana slipped out of his lips like smoke, making shapes as they vanished towards him. The lad was to scared too even run at this point. I didn’t, but now I do. No reason to let you know, though, L thought to himself. In the back of his mind, he imagined how hilarious it would have been if the kid hadn’t been lying.

You have gained a new character trait.

Educated Gambler

A gambler who uses genuinely uses probabilities and previous knowledge to take calculated gambles? Unheard of! You bring shame to real gamblers. Everyone knows all calculation and thinking is done AFTER the throw of the dice, not before.

Your skills and rewards will now have a wider range than normal, allowing you to gain extra rewards based on your actions. Beware, however, that the chances of gaining a lesser reward than normal are possible

I see. Seems character and skills that are more true to me are gained more easily. An interesting thought passed L’s mind, right then, but he set it for a letter time.

“I-I...I didn’t mean to-” the kid tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was nonsense.

“Didn’t mean to tell mistruths? Now, how do you go about that, on accident?” L said, prodding him further. Thin-boned, cowardly, and stupid….he’s just perfect.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

If the kid could turn any whiter, the light reflecting off of his skin would have debuffed L. He stood still, awkward and frozen like a deer.

In an act of cruelty, L let a few moments pass in silence. Just when the time was ripe, when the pressure was about to crush the lad, L spoke up. “What manners. I come here trying to help some kid who looks like he’s in trouble, and what do I get for it? A lie right in the face. What’s wrong with you, kid? Do you treat everybody that tries to help you like this?

“No! I don’t!” the kid spoke up with effort.

“Oh,” L said, surprised. “So it’s only me? That’s what you’re tryin’ to say, huh?”

L took one step forward, and the kid simply collapsed to the floor. “I-I’m sorry!” he whimpered, putting his hands in front of him.

L caught his wrist, and then pulled him up. “It’s cool, man. It happens,” L said, smiling in his face. “You alright, though? Your legs must of cramped or something.”

A wide and quite diverse of emotions went through the lad’s face. His tongue froze on him, once again, at the unexpected friendly aura washing over his skin. Suddenly, the sheer terror seeping out of L vanished, and was instead left with a well disposed and quite worried stranger.

“Y-yes, I’m alright, I think.”

“Good man,” L said. “What’s your name? I hadn’t caught it yet.”

“Braj. I go by Brag,” he answered, still unsure of himself.

“Pleasure, Braj. I go by L.”

A silent moment passed once again as L looked on expectedly.

Finally, Braj followed. “Yes! Mine too,” he said.

“So, Braj,” L said, sticking a hand around his shoulders, leading him further away from the street. “I saw you working out there. What do you?”

“Putting up houses. I do the angles and mea--” Braj paused, swallowing “--just house stuff,” he finished, somewhat awkwardly.

“Wait, what was that? You’re the designer?” L said, his eyes opening wide.

“Oh, no. I’m learning from my pops, but yeah, I help a there too. ‘Tis not the...manliest job, but--”

“Blah!” L said, interrupting him. “I want to see those manly men try to build a house. Would probably collapse on them while their doing the foundation.”

Brajj chuckled, his body shaking all over. “You know about that stuff?”

“An educated man is a living man, as my master used to say,” L replied nonchalantly.

“Master?” Braj said, with interest. “What were you a learner of?”

“Nothing specific, really. Travel everywhere. Just any knowledge that we can make use of, for whatever reason,” L replied vaguely.

Braj prodded him further. “And? How was it!”

L smiled wide. He took his arms off of Braj’s shoulders, and waved it about in front of him. Until the edges of his elbow, his skin was pitch black. “The foundation collapsed on me.”

Even in the blistering sun and obnoxious humidity, Braj noticeably shivered.

“So, what’s weighing on your mind bud?”

“Oh, It’s really not that important,” he said.

“I’m curious, I heard that sword's the wage of a half years work. Not every man spends a small fortune on a sword. Not every normal village man, that is,” L said, flattering the gullible fool as much as he could.

It was highly effective. His face light up noticeably. “Yeah, I guess it is a bit important to me,”

“How can I give a helping hand?” L said, his face solemn.

Braj looked about him suspiciously. “Why would you wanna help a stranger out? I got nothing left to offer you.”

L dropped his shoulders, and leaned against the flimsy wooden wall. He looked about himself hestinently. “You see, ever since the day of the experiment, my body became like this,” L said, putting one hand forward. Dark mana spireled up his forearm and converged at his palm.

At first, the fear in Braj’s body nearly sent him sprawling in the other direction, but upon seeing what L had created, he stopped and stared in wonder.

A bird of black mana took flight. It flapped its wings and flew in the shade of the building. “You see, I gained this power,” L began, gazing at the bird. If Braj knew anything about magic, then he would have noticed that what L was doing--speaking while performing magic--was an impossible feat for humans. "At first, it was painful, to learn how to control it," L said. The bird struggled as it flew. It dove at odd angles and inconsistent speeds. "After I learned more, it allowed me to tap into a whole new world." The bird now glid gracefully, the wind parting before its beaks. “But you see,” L said, regretfully, “there was a price to this marvelous power.” As he said that, the bird flew out beyond the shade.

It went ablaze, wobbled, fell, and then vanished into nothingness before touching the dirt.

“Friends are hard to come by, Braj, and so does honest work.”