"Goodbye," Aisha said, waving to the dog and owner.
"Goodbye!" the little girl replied, kneeling down next to her furry friend. Her large, muscly, father stood behind her.
Rainen and Axel stood nearby, both choosing to watch from afar. Although the dog had taken quite a liking to Aisha and showed no hostility towards her, instead following her like it would its own owner, it had no taste for the two boys. It didn't directly reject their close proximity to it but sometimes growled and ran closer to Aisha.
"Man, Rai. What's up with that dog?" Axel furrowed his brows, "It's not like we tried to hurt it."
"We shot at it with spells. How'd you feel if I were to shoot at you with one of those?" Rainen responded, still gazing on.
"Well, confused actually. There's pretty much no reason why you'd do it." Rainen opened his mouth to proclaim his point but Axel raised his hand, "I know what you mean Rainen. No need to explain it to me. Still, I could understand if we shot at it with fireballs, I mean, those things are scary as all hell. But why was it hanging around your sis like she was the one who raised it?"
Rainen wondered that himself. Why was his sister able to do such a thing? Was the dog perhaps trusting enough that anyone who approached it in such a calm manner would've been able to gain its trust? Could that have been one of the reasons it had been lost in the first place?
"Excluding the possibility that we may just be horrible with dogs, or animals in general, it might've just been overall very friendly and we incurred its slight dislike because of our disabling spells." Rainen suggested.
"A friendly dog in a place like this?" Axel gestured at the surrounding buildings, "It's not what I'd call the worst part of town but definitely not the best. Looking at that girls dad, he's gigantic too. I really doubt a dog living in this neighborhood is the friendliest of friendly."
Rainen, pondering his friend's comment, pushed away from the wall and greeted his sister, "How'd it go?"
"Pretty good," Aisha said, "She was really happy when she saw him. And the dad wasn't as scary as he looked. Now," Aisha pulled out the quest paper, "Do we head back to the guild to collect the reward?"
"Sure," Axel said, "Let's all go together."
Retracing their steps until finally away from the slum-like regions of the city, they were near their destination when a yawn hit all of them.
"It's getting a little late." Axel broke in, "Damn. I don't want to be waiting in line for forever."
"I can pick it up by myself," Rainen said.
"Then I'll come too." Aisha replied.
"No thanks." Rainen shook his head, "I'll split the money between us tomorrow or I could leave it under your door later Axel. I've got something to do afterwards anyways so it'd be no problem for me."
"Kay~" Axel responded, locking his hands together and behind his head, "I've been kinda tired lately and we've spent a lot of time looking for that dog. If I said I wasn't tired then I'd be lying. See ya later Rai and little sister. Toss me the money at school tomorrow."
"You don't mind if I get the quest points?"
"Nope. Hope the line isn't too long Rai, best of luck."
Axel disappeared from sight, turning into nothing more than another head among the dwindling crowd. Aisha, however, still remained next to him.
Rainen looked at her, "You're not going to go back to your inn?"
"I'm going to go with you."
"I have to do something afterwards and I'd prefer if you didn't."
"Why not?" she asked, no doubt a little annoyed.
"Just because. Listen to me, this time, okay?" he pleaded. There was no need deny her with going with him to the guild but he wanted to option to skip going to the guild today if needed. It was getting dark, and dark enough already, so the time for it was limited.
Aisha watched him, inspecting him for any clues before finally saying, "Okay... but don't run away with the money. I know where you live." Aisha turned away, "Don't stay up too late... good night." she uttered before disappearing.
"Night," Rainen said to the gathering darkness, filling the spot where his sister once stood.
Accompanied by no one, he made his way to the Adventurer's Guild to find the lines much shorter than before. It seemed as if the events from earlier, or the natural workings of night, calmed things down. The adventurers present in the guild were now either looking at the boards or drinking away their sorrows.
Rainen joined a line and waited. Slowly, the number of those waiting dwindled some more until he finally reached the front. The young, large bosomed, clerk frowned, affixing her eyes on his face. For whatever reason it was, she seemed troubled.
"I finished this quest," Rainen said, passing her the quest paper with the requester's signature.
The clerk reached for the paper, a depressing atmosphere lurking about her, and read it. And, as if it were a letter sent from a close friend or relative, she lit up. The anguish from before was no more, now it was replaced by the smiling face of a refreshed maiden.
"Ah, I'll get you your reward right away." she held out her hand. "Your card please."
"Here." he gave it to her.
"Thank you."
She placed it on the counter and held her hand over it. The marking on the back of her hand, a half finished circle with a singular dot in the middle with a line pierced through it, began to glow. Rainen observed the process with odd interest. He had seen it done multiple times but somehow he always felt the need to watch.
Finishing the update on the card, she took out a few coins from the storage box nearby and gave them to him. As soon as he grabbed onto the card, the mark on his very own hand glowed then died out shortly thereafter. The payout was low, not even enough to buy a sole room in a half decent end, but that was to be expected from an F-ranked mission. Rainen investigated the adventurer ID. The quests now completed were 3 D-ranked, 6 E, and 10 F. This was excluding a few quests he allowed Axel to take for himself but overall, it was accurate.
He also took a peek at the numbers representing the points he has. Points are used to either rank up or to buy some exclusive items and information from the guild. With over 150 points, he had enough to rank up, however, even if he wanted to, it was impossible as he hadn't completed a C-ranked quest yet.
He thanked the clerk with a nod and left.
Steering through the streets and dodging people left and right, Rainen let himself sit in an alleyway for a moment. Stretching his arms and legs he prepared himself for what was coming up. With reckless abandon, Rainen dashed out of the alleyway at top speed.
He did so for what seemed like forever. When breaking into the open streets filled with people, he'd weave through them, when faced with piles of garbage in a narrow opening he'd hop over them. He kept at it, at the same pace despite the pounding in his heart for the exercise to stop.
He ran and ran until he finally reached the wall blocking the city from the outside. Yet, instead of stopping like any sane person would, Rainen prepared himself and jumped. He clung onto the side of the wall, halfway up. An insane 20 feet jump. From there, he climbed the rest of the way, silently cursing at himself.
Speed, reaction time, nimbleness, these were what Rainen was told his strengths were. Even the style of fighting he used, dual wielding knives, fit this idea. Regardless of his strength, Rainen had failed in getting to where he was needed when it was most important.
His speed was shot, he knew that. With the extreme amount of damage suffered at the hands of the angel's holy attack, Rainen knew he had no purpose or reason to run, he'd only stumble over his own feet. Using his ability should've been faster, but it didn't matter in the end. He wasn't fast enough, he wasn't strong enough.
Latching onto the top of the wall, he peeked up from the side, scanning for any wall guards. Security in the last few weeks had been tightened. It was no surprise considering that the incident cost them the lives of hundreds of guardsmen, luckily, no citizens, save for the lives of three boys, were taken.
All clear. Rainen climbed over the wall and dropped down on the other side. Any normal person would've taken the gate but he wanted to challenge himself, to present himself with some sort of obstacle.
After clearing the wall, he stuck closely to the side to assure he wasn't caught by any guards. With his hand sliding across the wall, he quietly ran towards the entrance of the wall, to the gate. He stopped moments before and dashed into the forest.
He took out two disposable knives and stood facing a marked tree. He'd been here before. Pulling his arms back, he threw both knives and rapidly pulled out two new ones as replacement.
Charging the tree, he wildly slashed, counting the amount of cuts and stabs in a span of ten seconds. When time ended, he backed away from the tree, slightly dissatisfied with the results.
"Faster," he said to himself, "I need to go faster."
He shook his head and pulled out the two thrown knifes. He checked their condition, slightly chipped. It's what he'd come to expect from such cheap blades. Again he fell into a battle stance and waited for a moment. The knives shot out of his hands and this time, instead of simply slashing and stabbing at the tree, he launched off from the ground and kicked it.
With empty hands and closed fists, Rainen assailed the tree with kicks and punches, rattling it. The snow covering the branches fell off. The skin around his hands reddened and even bled a bit, however, his bones were sturdy and unshaken, taking each shock of force emanating back from the tree without a single damaging fracture.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
This method of training went on for thirty minutes without stop. Short of breath, he scowled upon seeing his knuckles. They were red, either by bruising or from the small cuts in the skin. They've been bloodier before, in much harsher situations as well, here they had no right to be as red as they were.
With most of the time he would've used to train gone, he cut tree training short and left the forest, heading to the large white pillar, monument, outside of the city. He arrived at the base and looked up. Now was the time for the final piece of his training. Focusing his eyes, Rainen "jumped."
Reaching the top, his heart was pounded even more than before and he attempted to hold back a cough, failing to do so leading him into a fit. It took ten uses of his ability to make it to the top. Soon as the coughing ended, Rainen sat down on the edge, looking over the city.
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Two weeks earlier, a few days after the invasion
"Thirteenth" Anne called to him, "Where are you? Have you captured the criminals yet? Send feedback if you have."
Rainen didn't respond. Four men cowered against a wall, each pushing on each other in an attempt to protect themselves from him. Two men were bruised and battered, the other two were simply cowards.
"Tell me," he said, "You guys live in the slums near the warehouses. What did you see on the night of the attack or invasion as some are calling it."
"N-nothing!" one declared, "W-we, I didn't see anything!"
Rainen fired a stun at him and he dropped to the ground. "I already knew you were going to be useless. I suppose you will too." he looked at the other injured one.
"W-wai-" he fell to the ground in a statue like manner before relaxing.
"Right, now... do any of you two have any information?"
"Why are you doing this?" the shorter one asked. "We haven't done anything wrong."
"Haven't done anything wrong?" Rainen tilted his head quizzically, "So robbing someone and leaving them on the ground to bleed out isn't doing anything wrong? I suppose the man must've done it himself then."
"We didn't do that sir." the taller one responded.
"Politeness will get you nowhere. I don't care about what you did or didn't do. All I care about is what you may have seen during the invasion." The Thirteenth cracked his knuckles, "What did you see on that day? Where were you when it happened?"
"Thirteenth, respond." Anne commanded. "Where are you?"
Rainen regarded the message with annoyance and said to the two scum, "I don't have much patience."
"H-hold on. W-we'll tell you." the taller one started to speak, "It's true that we were in the general area of the warehouse you mention', but we swear we didn' see nothin'."
"And you expect me to believe this how?" he stared at them with cold eyes, "Surely you may have heard a noise and been so curious as to have checked it out, no?"
One man gulped, it didn't go unnoticed.
"Now!" the shorter one shouted idiotically. He pulled a knife from his side but in a matter of seconds, was already rendered immobile.
Rainen shook his head and chuckled, "You already know I can do magic, why such a stupid attempt?" he asked no one in particular. With only one person left standing, who was stunned at the speed his friend was put down, it would be a much easier interrogation.
"Look," Rainen shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what's true or not, so I might believe everything you say. However, I don't like people who lie when there's no benefit to it."
"What're you talkin 'bout?" the survivor asked, his eyes constantly shifting between his, still as stone, friends and the enemy before him.
"Listen here, it doesn't matter if you admit to stabbing and stealing from a guy or not, all I know for sure is that you've been working around the warehouses lately." Rainen pulled two pieces of paper from his pocket, "This guy sure looks like you, and hey," he lifted on up. "This looks like your buddy on the floor there."
The man's eyes widened, "How'd you get those?"
"When something bad happens, and owners go under investigation and whatnot, they tend to be a lot more easily swayed if they think it'll help'em save face and escape harsher punishments." he let the papers fall to the ground, "The guy sold you out so spill it."
"Ask the owner!" the man cried, "Not me!"
"Oh, no no no. The owner of the warehouse isn't as useful as someone who worked there and was probably an eyewitness to the events of it. Sure the guy sold it to be used by some shady people, but he's clueless. Tell me what I want to know."
"I-I can't! I wo- I don't have anything to tell you!" the man turned and ran.
Rainen sighed, "Stop with the games. I'm tired of them as well."
Using his ability to appear before the man, Rainen gripped his throat and pushed him against the wall, lifting him higher and higher.
"L-Let me d-down you bastard..."
"As you so wish." Rainen threw him on the ground, turned him onto his stomach, pinned him with his boot, and grabbed hold of the man's arm. "I am going to break this arm." he stated.
"W-what? You're going to do what?"
"I'm going to break this arm in such a way that the bone will be sticking out of your skin if you don't tell me WHAT YOU SAW!"
"Thirteenth!" Anne landed in front of him. "What's going on?"
She ruined it.
Releasing his grip, he shot a stun at the pinned man, "Just rounding up the last of them."
"How come you didn't respond to any of my questions?" she asked.
"I was too busy." he lied, "Having one person handle four runners is a difficult task."
Anne stood there silently, and Rainen refused to shift or show any signs of weakness under her gaze. No matter the intensiveness, he would not be the one to break. He waited for Anne's response.
"Got it," she finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "I'll round these guys up. You should head back to the warehouse and wait for more orders. The situation's still pretty hectic."
He nodded and blinked away, simply happy to avoid the situation or any deeper conversations.
While jumping from building to building, Rainen noticed something odd. Several of them, especially the ones closest to the warehouse where Henry lost his life, were missing entire chunks of stone. Sometimes, they were missing a few feet worth in length while others sometimes only lost what seemed like a foot sized portion.
Strange. He thought to himself.
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Garret, after giving Wous, the bartender and owner, the money that the odd cloaked man owed, returned to walking through the city, in the overall direction of his parents' house. He strode down the street yet did not do it without care like he should have.
The man from before, the one claiming to be Yeran hung in his mind. Yeran's dead. he thought to himself over and over again. The dead cannot come back to life. Garret was sure of it.
Lost in thought, he failed to notice the other people on the street.
"Ooof!" Garret had sent a young boy falling to the ground.
"Sorry," he said, offering his hand. "It was my mistake not watching where I was going."
"Hey, watch-" the boy stopped himself and took a deep breath, "No worries." the golden haired boy took his hand. "Were you perhaps lost in thought?"
"Mhm. I was just remembering some older times."
"Oh, are you visiting?" the boy asked.
"Yes, my family lives here." Garret answered, slightly relieved the boy had not pressed the matter of his thoughts or the accident moments beforehand.
"Ah, well, I suppose you're quite busy then."
"A bit, yes."
"It was nice meeting you." the boy awkwardly held out his hand, no doubt he was reluctant about the gesture.
Garret took it, "I'm Garret."
"I'm Leonard. I assume you're busy so I'll take no more of your time. H-Have a good day."
"And you as well."
Garret gave the boy only the faintest of thought and continued on. He seemed like a noble judging from the clothes he wore. Quite lucky the situation didn't escalate then, or else Garret might've just found himself prostrating on the ground and apologizing.
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Author's Notes: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, please leave a comment or a rating/review! Those are fun to read and help out a lot with understanding how my story is appealing to readers and how I can improve.
I wanted to make the chapter longer, but I started writing much later than usual and here felt like a decent place to stop. I was hoping to show more of Garret in the city, like actual events happening, but that's going to come up in a later chapter as it's important to the arc.
As for any insight I can give on the next chapter... well, I think we'll have a snippet of school (actual events) and more of the happenings in the Green City.