A new voice interrupted them. “Now, that’s enough. Let’s leave it at that.” I strained my head upward to see who it was. Walking towards us was a familiar-looking man. After a bit of thought, I realized that he was the wealthy guy who’d asked me for directions to a library.

My stomach dropped. He wouldn’t be able to do anything against the two of them. I wanted to tell him to run, to get the guards, but my voice wouldn’t work.

“And who’re you?” Jarrod asked. He let go of my collar, and I fell to the ground.

“That doesn’t matter. Now, will you leave the kid be, or do things need to get violent?”

“You’re gonna join him,” Jarrod retorted. He glanced at the other man. “Daryl, come on.” Daryl looked reluctant, but decided to help his friend, and stepped forward.

Jarrod initiated, running forward and jabbing quickly. He may have been a rich bastard, but he knew martial arts. I turned away and waited for the inevitable, but to my surprise, I heard Jarrod grunt. I looked up. The man was holding Jarrod’s fist like it was nothing. Then, he grabbed his head with his other hand and smashed him into the stone wall.

My mouth fell open. Jarrod clutched his bleeding head and took a wobbly step backwards, while Daryl stood frozen.

“Are you done now?” the man asked, his voice even. “If not, we can continue.” Jarrod looked at him, then bolted out of the alley. Daryl followed.

After they ran, my vision started clouding. I vaguely heard a voice by my ears, but I was too weak to understand it. The world around me faded until I could see nothing but darkness.

…

I tried sitting up, but an excruciating pain in my chest stopped me from moving. A warm, comfortable feeling enveloped my body. I looked around carefully, realizing that I was lying on a bed.

Surprise and confusion mixed together, and I shot out of the bed, ignoring the pain. The room I was in was empty, excluding the mattress. Before I could make a move for the door, though, it opened.

The man--the one that saved me--walked in, holding a plate of food. “Oh,” he said. “You’re awake.”

I nodded, relieved. If he didn’t have good intentions, I’d probably be dead. But why did he bother saving me? And how? My chest was aching, so I sat back down.

“Thank you,” I offered. My stomach growled, and I found my attention being drawn towards the food.

He smiled. It was a warm smile, an honest one. His eyes tracked my line of sight down to the food. “Oh right, I suppose you’d be hungry. Here.” He handed me the plate. My hands instinctively reached out to grab it, but I resisted.

“Why?” I asked, hesitating. “I won’t be able to pay you back.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry. Consider it repayment for helping me.” He remembered. I stared at the food, then looked back up at his face.

“Well?” he said. “My arm’s getting tired.” My eyes widened. He was still holding out the plate. I moved to grab it, and devoured the meat in seconds.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

He laughed and sat down next to me. The closeness made my body tense up, and he looked at me with concern. “Am I too close?”

“No!” I said quickly. “Sorry. I’m just not used to people...near me.” I dropped my eyes. Way to make an impression.

But to my surprise, he just nodded. “What’s your name? I’m Damien. Damien Krell.”

“It’s Theo,” I said. “I never knew my last name.”

“So,” he said, “would you like to work for me?”

...PoV Change…

I was reluctant to hire Theo, both because of my financial situation and his background. It was the day after he’d been beaten up, and I’d tasked him with going around and buying cheap swords. I hadn’t given much money in case he decided to run, but it didn’t seem like he would. People were products of their environment, so it would be cruel to dismiss Theo without trusting him first.

Once I’d finished work at the library, I walked directly to the tavern. It didn’t seem like I’d need to keep the tedious job for much longer, seeing as the enchanting was doing so well.

Theo was waiting outside my door, and I felt happy knowing he hadn’t betrayed my trust. “Theo,” I greeted, unlocking the room and waving him inside. He was carrying a couple of swords and a spear, which was more than I’d be able to buy with the same money.

“Mr. Krell,” he said. I frowned. It was a little ridiculous to be annoyed by such a small thing, but I absolutely hated honorifics.

“Damien,” I corrected. He hesitated, then nodded. “Now, can I see the weapons?” Theo placed them on the bed and stepped back, fidgeting with his hands. The movement showed that he was nervous, which was good, because it meant he was taking the job seriously.

I hadn’t figured out what to do with the enchantments yet. If Theo was working for me, he’d find out about my magic, even if I didn’t let him see it. That was one of the good things of picking up someone like him, though. He likely didn’t have any friends or family. It would pain me to do so, but if need be, I could kill him without repercussions. With that thinking in mind, I made my decision.

“Theo.” He perked up. “I’m going to explain some things to you, and many of them I’d like to remain secret. You have the chance to leave now. I’ll even give you fifty coppers for your time. However, if you stay, you’ll be sworn to secrecy. If I determine you to be untrustworthy, I will kill you. What is your choice?” A little harsh, but it got the message across.

“I agree,” he said. I paused. He’d barely given it five seconds of thought.

“Wait,” I interrupted, “You should take more time to think this through. This decision will change your life.”

Theo shook his head. “I don’t need to. My life was a...well, I didn’t have a life. Even if I die, at least it would be meaningful.”

My heart softened. “Alright, as long as you know what you’re getting into.” I motioned towards the weapons. “You’re probably wondering what I’m doing with these, so I’ll show you. But first, let me ask this. What do you know about magic?”

His brows knit together. “Well, um, not much. The gods and demi-gods use it. There are some wizards too, but all they can do is create lights and stuff.”

I nodded. From what I’d gathered, that was pretty common knowledge. “Then this should be a surprise to you. Watch.” I brought my hands up in front of me, and started channeling lightning magic between them. White lightning arced and crackled gently across my fingers in a controlled fashion.

Theo’s mouth had fallen open, and he stood frozen. For someone who hadn’t known about magic, it was probably an appropriate reaction. I had no idea what I’d do if I couldn’t use it.

After a few seconds, I cut the lightning off. It was my second-highest magic, barely falling behind force. It might have been almost completely impossible for me to use any other type of magic, but I was lucky. In fact, if my skill had been a little lower, I’d have been forced to become a battle-mage.

“Okay,” he finally said, rubbing his eyes. “Okay.”

“If you have any questions, ask them now,” I said.

He hesitated for a moment, then replied, “No, I’m good, I--I don’t want to bother you.”

“If that’s your choice.” I was a little happy at his response, though. Even if he’d been exposed to magic for the first time, he didn’t want to be a nuisance.

I picked up one of the swords and examined it. “My goal is to make money by augmenting weapons. The enchantments will be weak enough so that the magic will be undetectable.” Theo nodded, so I explained a bit more.