Despite never having done so until I got plopped into Kanaan for the first time, I was thoroughly sick and tired of waking up after falling unconscious. You’d think it would feel something like sleep and be at least a little bit restful but that isn’t the case at all. Waking up feels like clawing your way out of a dream. Tearing at the images before you till consciousness comes flooding back in. I was in a fire one moment, surrounded by flaming figures swinging axes at me then the next I was the one on fire. Something in my chest blazing like a sun and cooking me alive from the inside out.
It wasn’t a good time.
Eventually the images faded and after a moment of struggle, managed to flutter my eyes open enough to take in the world around me. The first thing I noticed was the pain. I flinched as I felt my body protest at my slight movements, thought the sting wasn’t as bad as it had been before. Not nearly as bad. I only had to lightly use Endure to force myself to move through the pain. Which sounded bad, but actually wasn’t. As someone who had very recently jumped into a burning building, jumped off that same building, then fought off over a dozen Redbrand whackjobs while terribly wounded and pushed beyond my limits. Only having my entire body aching was an improvement.
As I took a deep breath I realized then how much of a chill was in the air as my breath frosted into mist. In a fit of shivering I clutched my arms together and rubbed them for warmth as I looked up at the high ceiling from where I lay. Which seemed to be a table? There were massive cuts of meat hanging in the air only shifting slightly on their hooks. All of them coming from monsters that I don’t even want to think about. It was one thing fighting against people, granted they were people with crazy powers and superhuman abilities, but they were still human at the end of the day. Some of the pictures Grima showed me of the monsters these meats had come from looked like the stuff of a mentally disturbed artist’s nightmares. Just picture after picture of hulking beasts, full of claws and fangs that always had a handy little human silhouette in the corner so you could realize with horror that a human being only came up to the monster’s shin. That was something I would happily leave to the professionals thank you very much.
Grima’s shop. I thought connecting the dots as my brain started up. Why am I at work? Oh shit, do we have any orders to fill?
Struggling to sit up I felt a shiver run through me as I checked myself over. Running a hand over my ribs and gratefully feeling intact bone instead of the break I’d feared I had earlier. Even on my arms and across the visible skin I could see the amount of damage there was a far cry from what you’d expect from someone who’d run into a fire. Did someone give me some healing potions? Before I could think it over further someone came over around a corner. Someone whose voice I recognized.
“I just want to check on him agai-” May said before cutting off as she saw me sitting up on the table. Her worried features perking up instantly as she saw me. “Toby you’re awake!” She said relieved. Rushing over and hugging me in a way that made my tired body protest but I didn’t care. I lightly returned the hug and tried to think of what to say as she pulled away.
“May, ah… how are you?” I asked hesitantly before May’s look of relief turned to frustrated annoyance.
“How am I?” She asked incredulously. “How am I? I was scared half to death! Multiple times!” She said putting her hands on her hips as she glared at me.
“First there was the fire! Who in their right mind has the nerve to tell someone they’ll ‘be right back’ before jumping into a blazing inferno? Then you have the nerve to fall off the top of the entire building-”
“Actually, I jumped. That's completely diff- Ow!” I said as may slapped my sore shoulder.
“Sorry.” May immediately replied before shaking her head. “Wait, you know what? No! I’m not sorry. You could have died Toby. You could have died!”
I opened and shut my mouth not sure exactly how I could respond to that. Part of me wanted to say that I didn’t plan on doing any of those things, but that didn’t sound good at all. Would it be better if I said I’d planned some of that? Before my thoughts could spiral as I figured out how to calm the only girl I’d ever met who gave me the time of day. May surprised me again as she hugged me for the second time. Gripping me tight as her arms wrapped around me and she buried her head into my shoulder. Shuddering as she held in a sob.
Wordlessly I hugged her back. Not with the light hands on her back from before but putting a bit more strength into it as I held May close and gave her the moment she needed. For a long moment we stayed like that as May let out all the pent up fears and emotions she’d experienced last night. Part of me wanted to get emotional too, but I just sat there like a rock. That wasn’t because I wanted to act like some stoic paragon of masculinity either. I just felt hollow. Like everything that had happened tonight had carved something out of me until there was nothing left.
As much as May had thought she’d seen last night she didn’t know the whole story. She didn’t know the mental turmoil I’d felt in the restaurant that caused me to panic buy Dead Calm. How I’d had to break out of the skill just to feel empathy for other people again. How I nearly lost myself to Rykas right after saving Pyga. How the madness nearly swallowed me whole as I tore into Rykas and ripped a piece out of him, that same piece settling into my core and driving me to fight like a demon against the Redbrands even as I pushed my body past its limits.
We could have stayed like that for a lot longer. I wouldn’t have minded that in the slightest. But given that I just noticed our audience, namely May’s father in his full Shieldguard armor and my intimidating beast of a boss staring at us from across the room I was quick to give May some rapid pats to try and get her to break her death grip on me as I tried not to look directly at them.
“Hm?” She mumbled turning her head to look at me before she caught sight of our audience out of the corner of her eye. I could tell the moment she saw them by the very clear panic in her eyes as she broke away from me and blinked rapidly. By the speed of her movements I could have sworn she must have had a Dexterity attribute of her own.
“He’s fine.” May said casually. Sounding like she was just caught doing something routine rather than something that might be embarrassing. That might have worked too if her cheeks weren’t a bit red.
“That’s a relief.” Gregor said half sarcastically. Though I could tell his words did come from a place of genuine caring. Gregor came over to the table I was on as Grima hung back and gave me a wolfish grin. Waggling his eyebrows and looking from May to me suggestively as Gregor’s back was turned.
Now if May’s cheeks were just a bit red mine must have been blazing as I looked towards down towards the table and tried to fade from existence. I could stand looking like a fool in front of Gregor, at least we had a nice little friendship going that I could rely on to mitigate his fatherly instincts as I hugged his daughter. But to have my boss here too? Looking like he was itching to offer advice?
Kill me. I desperately prayed to anyone who could hear me. Please just take me now.
I was shaken out of my internal monologue as Gregor took my arm, I looked up expecting the man to give me a light dressing down for acting so close to May when he took me completely by surprise as he fiercely embraced me.
“Thank you.” He said simply. Those two words conveying so much to me in an instant. The relief that his daughter was safe, the fear that must have consumed him when he realized she was in danger, and the gratefulness to me that I helped keep May safe. Releasing me he took a step back and shook his head.
“I should have been here sooner but I couldn’t get through till the Shieldguard lifted the cordon on the Murk district.” There was a bit of an edge to Gregor’s voice there I hadn’t heard in a while. His eyes hardening as he continued. “They wanted to… contain the fighting. Keep it from spilling over into the other districts. I was on the verge of striking my superior officer and charging in myself when the cordon was lifted and we were sent in.” Gregor looked back to me then, tired smile shining even through his tiredness. “Again, thank you. I owe you a debt for keeping my daughter safe Toby.”
I felt a spike of shame at the man’s thanks and felt something catch in my throat. It wasn’t true that I’d kept May safe. She had only been out there in the first place because she’d wanted to go out for a bite to eat with me. Even taking that into account, the Redbrands had seen her helping me. What if they go after her in the future? I’d be responsible for that if they did. Then I’d almost lost myself fighting for control of my body against Rykas. If he had taken over when May, Pyga, and all those other people had been nearby…
“It’s fine Gregor, really.” I said a bit uncomfortably. What were you supposed to say to someone who said they owed you a debt? Thank you? “What happened?” I said instead. More than ready to move on from that topic. “And how long was I out? The last thing I remember was collapsing in that alley. After the um-” I stuttered. Remembering the numerous Redbrand lying scattered across the courtyard. The sting of my bleeding knuckles as they trailed red down my arms. “The ambush.” I finished.
Gregor’s face tightened as I mentioned the attack but May was the one who spoke up first.
“You’ve been asleep for the past five hours. Father only arrived here recently, just a little less than an hour ago. I was the one who carried you out of the alley.” She began, brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear as she focused on me. “I still remembered where you said your workplace was and I started dragging you towards that direction when I ran into your boss on the street. He ah, carried you a lot easier than I did. Then when we got back here we started patching you up.”
I looked towards Grima questioningly and he answered with a grimace. “I headed out of the shop after I felt the first couple of explosions. Wanted to see what was going on and what I could do to help.” The wolf said simply. “I was in the middle of keeping a crowd from trampling each other when I saw you getting dragged down the street like a sack of produce. Oh, no offence by the way girl. Then I took you and her here to my shop to fix you up. You were a damn mess I tell ya. What the hell did you do to yourself kid? You were practically burning up when we brought you back. We had to leave you in here so your body would cool down, even after we used the last of the healing potions I kept in the back.” Grima said crossing his arms as he looked me over.
I looked to May expectantly. “How much did you tell them?”
A shadow passed over May’s face as she spoke up. “I started at the beginning, the restaurant we were going to eat at before the…” May fell off for a moment as she swallowed. “Before the bomb went off. I told them how you saved that waitress woman before we left the restaurant. How calm you were when you led me out of the building. Our run in with the Redbrands and Maulers before you charged into the fire to save that child.”
“I was just telling my Father how you fell off the building and somehow jumped up an entire level when the Redbrands confronted us before I realized you were awake.”
“You’re level three now?” Gregor said clearly surprised. “Congratulations. I’m sorry the circumstances prevent us from holding a proper leveling celebration though. How did you gain your level? Were there elementals in the fire?” He asked. As if asking about elementals in a fire were completely normal.
“Oh you know about those things?” I said wonderingly. But that made complete sense in hindsight. Gregor was a native, I wasn’t. Fire monsters were probably a dime a dozen here. “Those things were a huge pain! Holy crap the first one I saw scared me half to death.”
“They are often difficult to contain for those who have never fought monsters first hand. You should feel proud for taking them down before they could gather and form Cinder Elementals.”
“Yeah… haha. About that…” I began sheepishly.
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For the next half an hour I told Gregor, May, and Grima what I’d done in the burning apartment building. Stopping every now and then to clarify as Gregor, May, and Grima came back with question after question. Those questions would usually start with something simple. Then I would immediately follow up with an answer that made me sound like a lunatic. I had to clarify more than once that, yes, I did jump into the burning building. Yes, I did do it from the fifteenth floor of a different building. I’d been expecting my jump to carry me to the thirteenth floor but I misjudged my leap and landed on the fourteenth. No, I didn’t think of just using the stairs. Yes, I did bring a literal child with me climbing up the burning building to put out the fire. He was very insistent and I didn’t have a fire extinguisher. We lingered on that point for an uncomfortable amount of time, until May, Gregor, ad Grima were satisfied I wouldn’t allow myself to be persuaded by children to take them into danger anymore.
Then we talked about the Elementals themselves. I was right in the middle of describing the sheer number of Ember Elementals in the building when I made a throwaway comment about the Ash and Cinder Elementals being harder that left Gregor sputtering.
“You fought Cinder Elementals? And an Ash?” Gregor said quickly as his tone of voice straightened me up.
“Fought might be too strong of a word. It was Pyga and me working together that brought the Cinders down. We had to drop a water tower on the Ash elemental.” I said with a chuckle. Still amazed that had actually been something I’d helped accomplish. “That’s the truth Gregor. Scout’s honor.” I said holding up my fingers in a boy scout’s salute. Even if I’d only technically been one for two months on Earth. It was fun to use every now and then.
“Scout? I thought you were a Rogue?” Grima asked.
“It’s a figure of speech.”
“For what? That still doesn’t make any sense. Why do Scout’s specifically have honor? Do they have more than the other Classes?” Grima continued. Now sounding more confused.
“Regardless, I’m glad you survived that.” Gregor said. Brushing aside Grima's questioning gaze. “Killing elementals would soundly explain your level and then some. What happened after that?”
“After that…” I started. Flashes of my fight with Rykas flickered through my mind before I pushed them down. “After that the Redbrand came for me. I was a complete wreck at the time. They probably would have swarmed me if May hadn’t dragged me away.” I said with a grateful smile towards May. “Then they came after us again but, ah… yeah.” I shrugged. Not wanting to go into detail about how viciously I’d fought and why. “I fought them off, May brought me to Grima, Grima brought me here. And now we’re talking.”
A snort drew everyone’s eye as May shook her head and leveled her gaze at me. “Toby, don’t just brush over what you did back there. That was incredible. I’ve never seen anyone move as fast as you did back in those alleys. I don’t know how you did it but you moved like you had Dexterity twice your level.”
“Well, it wasn’t that drastic.” I said immediately. Not wanting my true amount of attributes to get out. Gregor had gone over in detail with me how aberrant it was for someone to have as many attributes as I did for my level. It just didn’t happen. When every person with a class only received a single attribute per level it was usually the norm for people’s attributes to match their current levels. It was standard practice for most people to choose classes with only a single attribute so they could maximize the gains from those attributes. Even if you wanted to increase the amount of attributes you had with Attribute Crystals you would only be able to push an attribute a few points past your level before you developed negative symptoms. The way Gregor explained it to me it was like trying to overstuff a bag beyond what it could carry. If I didn’t have my unique status as a Variant Human and I was an ordinary citizen of Kanaan with the same attributes instead, I’d probably have exploded.
Someone with multiple stats like me, namely Dexterity and Wisdom usually suffered from having to split their attributes between the two. Which was why the people who got those Classes were usually those who could afford Attribute Crystals the High Houses sold and farmed from their Dungeons.
Gregor saw the problem immediately and moved to cover me with far better tact than I ever could. “I’m glad to see you took the advice I offered on where to spend those Skill points Toby.” Gregor said with a convincing chuckle. “They must have helped out a lot.”
“Yeah, actually!” I lied. In hindsight I probably should have spent more time asking Gregor for advice on Skills and whatnot but I’d always had some other question come up that distracted me. “They really saved my bacon back there.”
“How?” May asked clearly perplexed. “I saw the way you fought Toby, that couldn’t have all just come from some Skills.”
“Well…” I began before coming up with an idea. “They’re boosting skills. They help me think and move faster for short periods of time. That’s why I was moving so quickly back there” There, that was technically the truth right? Thought Acceleration, Synaptic Surge, and Mana Infusion perfectly fit the description for Skills that would give me an edge in a fight. It was a much better answer than revealing my stupidly high Dexterity for my level.
“Boosting Skills?” May said alarmed. “Toby those are dangerous! Please tell me you didn’t get any serious status conditions like Mental Strain and Overexertion.”
“No. Of course not.” I said easily. Happy I could give an honest answer. May and the others visibly sagged in relief at the news.
“I did get Neural Overload though. Is that bad?” I asked casually. “I still have it actually, it’s why I’m trying not to move too much.” I finished. Laughing and expecting everyone else to join in.
They did not find it funny.
What followed was an small but still embarrassing scramble as Gregor quickly fed me one of the healing potions strapped to his belt while May fussed over me. Exclaiming why I hadn’t said anything earlier. Grima had an exasperated look on his face that was so comical on his huge fanged face that I nearly choked on the healing potion getting out a laugh. Which made May get even more upset. Which made me laugh even harder. Which was why I accidentally inhaled part of the healing potion and started choking on it for real.
Some time later. After I’d drunk and inhaled enough healing potion to finally cure the Neural Overload debuff I’d picked up from spamming Thought Acceleration and Synaptic Surge back to back. I was off the table and standing with Gregor as Grima was politely declining May’s every attempt to repay his help by putting Sigmata on his things.
“But it’s just a cleaver.” May tried again. Pointing at Grima’s horror movie sized work tool.
“Exactly.” Grima shot back. Looming over the human girl with his arms crossed. “It’s a cleaver and everything I need to get my work done. I don’t need you drawing any fancy magic sparkles that’ll go shooting off the thing whenever I swing it.”
“Magic sparkles?” May said accusingly. Not backing down in the least when it came to her area of expertise. “I don’t make things sparkle. I make them better. Add new functions to tools that they were incapable of doing before.”
“If you say so.” Grima said noncommittally.
“Our entire society is built upon Sigmata!” May said in a huff.
“Eh, society sucks.” Grima replied nonchalantly.
As much as I wanted to continue watching the exchange between Grima and May I was drawn away by Gregor’s voice addressing me. “Toby, do you have any inkling at all why the Syndicate has set their sights on you?” Turning I saw Gregor’s face set into an uncharacteristic frown as he looked at me directly. “Is it possible they may suspect something about your… nature?” Gregor finished. And he didn’t need to say any more for me to understand what he was talking about.
“I don’t think so.” I began. “I don’t see how they could know anything in the first place. Unless there’s some kind of ancient prophecy involving nobodies from other worlds showing up, it’s got to be related to something else. Whatever that is though, your guess is as good as mine.”
“Hrm.” Gregor said as he slowly paced around in a circle. “First Blackwater, then the Redbrands. It’s not much, but that tells us something at least.”
“Like what?” I asked “That I know which groups wants to kill me more?”
“In a way, yes.” Gregor started. “The Syndicate is made up of four groups as you know. Blackwater, the Redbrands, the Silk Spinners, and the Maulers. It used to be that those four gangss would band together from time to time for their own mutual interests but that’s changed in the last couple of years. Blackwater has risen to the to prominence over the other groups and has firmly held that position. If Blackwater wants something done they’re just as likely to get the Redbrands and Silk Spinners to do it for them before they do it themselves.”
“Okay. So Blackwater was the first to have beef with me and might have passed the word on to the Redbrands to look out for me. Maybe even the Silk Spinners too. What does that mean?” I asked quizzically. Not getting where Gregor was going.
“It means that the Maulers might not be so willing to go along with whatever Blackwater wants. You saw how bad the Redbrand attack on the Murk district was yourself. I’ve seen the Rebrands do terrible things to other people, human and Beast folk both, but tonight was something else entirely. It was too coordinated. Too precise.”
“You’re saying that-” I started before I cut off with a horrified look towards Grima. ‘You’re saying that Blackwater might have sanctioned the attack last night? Why?”
“To push Beast folk out of High Water maybe? I hate to say it Toby, but there are a number of people in this city who would be more than happy for that to happen. And I’m not talking about the Redbrands either. I mean normal and powerful people both.” A shadow crossed over Gregor’s face as he mastered himself and looked at me again. “With the other gangs trying to push the Maulers out of High Water they might be willing to help you understand why you’re being hunted, if you can offer them something in return. Though I wouldn’t know where to start getting in contact with them.”
Instantly the memory I gleaned from Grima’s cleaver rushed to the surface. The one where the other Beast Folk, the other Maulers, were clearly pressuring him into coming back to them. I almost turned my head to look at Grima but caught myself before I could. Could I ask him for help? He clearly didn’t leave them on the best of terms if they left him and his shop a mess so bad he’d called the Shieldguard for help. I clenched my fist as I thought it over. Hadn’t Grima done enough for me already? He gave me a job and a place to recover after the Redbrand’s ambush last night, all without knowing anything about my true origins. That was already above and beyond what I could have expected from any of my bosses on Earth.
I’m just going to ask. I thought finally. If he doesn’t want to, he can refuse. Hell, he can fire me for bringing it up if he wants to. I won’t object.
“Grima.” I called out. Catching him and May off guard as they were arguing with each other about putting Sigmata on his stuff. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.” Grima said easily. “I need a break from your friend’s constant need to make everything magical.”
“Hey!” May said. Clearly objecting. “I’m trying to help.”
“Oh, you are.” Grima said. “I appreciate that part. Just not the part of the help that’s magical in any way, shape, or form.”
Leaving May in a huff I’d have found funny if it weren’t for my current mood Grima padded towards me. “What’s up?”
Taking a breath I went over my words in my mind. Wishing that I’d had the benefit of more than one single point of Wisdom in the attribute I needed most right now. “Grima, I’m sorry I never told you this but Blackwater and the Redbrands are after me. I’d tell you why but I honestly don’t know myself.” At the mention of the gangs Grima’s toothy smile fell as he took in the seriousness of my words. Seeing Grima was giving me his full attention I continued. “I need to know why. Not just for me, but for everyone around me they’ve hurt.” I said thinking back to how May almost got caught in the alley by a Redbrand knife. “So I’m going to try and talk to the Maulers and see if they’re willing to tell me any information they have on why I’m a target.”
Grima held still for a long moment. His face a complete mask as he kept his silence, only a barely discernable hint of suspicion showing in his eyes before he spoke. “Why are you telling me this Kincaid?”
“Because I want to be honest.” I said surprising myself with the admission. “I don’t know you’re history Grima, but I suspect that at least some of it is tied up with the Maulers. I know its a lot to ask, like a lot. But I don’t have anyone else I can count on for help besides the people in this room. Even if it is too much to ask or I crossed a line bringing this up and you’re about to fire me in the next few seconds. Could you please tell me who I can talk to before you kick me out the door?”
Grima bowed his head as he looked towards the floor. Brows creasing as a grimace revealed his fangs, if only partially. I looked towards May and saw how her eyes were bright with pride towards me. It wasn’t too long ago that she’d been upset at my desire to hide from the Syndicate and not rise to the challenge of stopping them. Which was quite the one eighty in hindsight, but made perfect sense as I felt out the spark of rage I’d torn from Rykas. I vividly remembered the still bodies inside the restaurant after the bomb. The terrified face of Falisa as she called out for a son who wasn’t there. The fear in May’s eyes as she held my knife hiding in a wooden crate. Those memories and every one in between made that spark writhe and coil like a viper. Desperate to sink its fangs into the ones responsible.
Sure, Blackwater had hurt me before. Kidnapped me even before I stupidly got Rykas jammed into my head by my Psychometry Spell Splinter. But it was knowing and seeing the people around me getting hurt that spurred me to action.
“Why do you think I’d have anything to do with them?” Grima said tiredly. Finally breaking his silence. As if he suspected my answer and didn’t want to hear it.
“Because you’re a good guy Grima.” I told him. “And you told me once that the Maulers once stood for something more than just shaking people down for money. If that’s the kind of gang they were at one point. It’s easy to imagine you being a part of that.”
With a snort Grima shook his head before looking at me with a wry smile. “Damnit Kincaid. You’re lucky I actually like you. Since you’re my only employee and I’d hate to go looking for another one I guess it couldn’t hurt to help you out this once.”
I smiled. Glad to see Grima didn’t take my request too harshly. “Thanks for this Grima.” I said whole heartedly. Before adding on a little sheepishly. “And also the whole carrying me back to your shop before. I just wanna make sure you know I’m grateful for that too.”
“Right.” Grima said before growing a bit more serious. Crouching down to meet me at eye level he raised a single clawed finger to point at me. “If we’re gonna do this I’m going to need you to listen and do exactly what I tell you. Because I sure as hell am not going all the way back to them with you looking a fool so they have an excuse to leave both our corpses in a dumpster.”
Well that’s reassuring. I thought internally. Instead of saying that though I just saluted Grima. “Just tell me what you want me to do boss.”
Nodding Grima continued. “I like that attitude. First thing’s first is making sure you can stay cool under pressure. Even when someone has their claws wrapped around your throat.”