When logging in the next day Max was exhausted. It seems his classmates and especially David still made fun of him about his forced encounter with the bunnies. If he was honest with himself it didn’t even bother him anymore. Max was still angry at David but he found something he liked and at least this couldn’t be taken away by his bully. Thinking about the journey he had so far, most of it didn’t go his way, he was constantly pushed in a specific direction at least until he decided to finally take matters into his own hands. The suggestion from the guard captain was fresh in his mind, maybe he should visit the bounty hunter guild, it would give him quests, let him earn money and it was a good source of experience. Still first he needed to visit the dwarfs, his armor should be finished by now and he wanted to drop most of his coins with Brookr. The dwarven fortress like smith should be a safe location.
Pushing his way through the busy district he stumbled onto the courtyard in front of the building. He sighs and walks over to the leatherworker where he dropped off the fur from the bear. The dwarf looked up to him with a smile on his face. “Ah good that you’re back lad! I finished your armor and I must say it turned out quite well with the skin of the bear. Wait, let me grab it for you.” The dwarf jumped from his stool and walked over to a chest, he took the armor out and arranged it in front of Nox. The armor was made from black leather, the natural skin color of the bear only got darker while tanning.
Before him lay two bracers with matching gloves, a chest piece reinforced with metal, a thick shirt with hood he could wear beneath made from some sort of black cloth, soft leather boots, pants made from the same cloth as his shirt but with leather stitched onto it for extra protection. Even if this was more than enough the dwarf dropped multiple belts, some pouches, two new sheaths with daggers and a reinforced strip of leather for his rifle. A massive pile and it all was for him. He stared at the dwarf. The leatherworker rubbed his nose and smiled.
“Well lad, I know it seems like much but I didn’t use all the skin so don’t worry about it, I have enough for a few smaller projects but let’s just say its a thank you from me for saving Brookr, we missed that grumpy asshole a lot here.” he laughs and pushed the pile towards Nox. “There is one more thing lad…I don’t know if you want to wear it but I thought it might be useful.”
He put a black mask on the pile, it was also made from leather but when Nox picked it up he could feel metal between the two pieces of leather used for the mask. What made him curious was that he couldn’t find an opening for his eyes but when he held it in front of his face he could see like the mask wasn’t there, despite feeling it on his skin. He put the mask back down and smiled. “I appreciate all the work you did for me, I will make sure to drop all the high quality leather I found off with you in the future, for this armor alone I would need to pay a fortune on the market.” Nox bowed towards the dwarf and grabbed his new equipment. “I will go see Brookr, I need to talk with him, thank you, again.” He walked towards the building and looked through some rooms, when he found a storage room he quickly got rid of his starter clothes and put his new armor on. He was finished rather quickly and tried moving around, sneaking, aiming, wielding daggers. The armor moved with him and didn’t feel restrictive. He put the mask on his belt and left the hood down. It was time to ask Brookr about this bounty hunter guild.
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He made his way over to Brookr’s shop. He carefully approached the door and knocked before taking a step back, waiting a few seconds before relaxing again, when he reached for the door handle the entire thing blasted outwards against the wall of the hallway. Smoke curling from the blackened wood, Nox peeked into the room seeing his dwarven friend rubbing soot from his forehead while he looked down on what once was a rifle.
“Hello Brookr, it seems you built something again? You know, next time build a metal door for this room, that’s the second explosion I witnessed and it doesn't want to develop a fear of doors." He entered the room and looked down at the table, the remnants of the rifle not more than burned wood and twisted metal. “It looks like you wanted to make it more powerful…there are new crystals in here.” he pointed at the barrel and raised an eyebrow.
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“Hmpf, well lad I’m walking into a new field here. Gunpowder always seemed like the obvious answer but the rifle I built gave me some ideas. So now I’m experimenting. Well but that’s a different matter. It seems you picked up your new gear, it gives you a menacing aura, not the scrawny boy that ended up with me in the same cage. Well lad, I bet you come with questions like always so out with it.”
Nox grabbed the full pouch from his belt and dropped it on the table, some coins spilling out the top. “First could you keep this safe? I don’t need that much money on me right now but please take some of it because I need new ammunition and well, after I finished the bounty the guard captain told me I should join the bounty hunter guild. I thought about it for a while but wanted to ask you about them first.”
Brookr stared at the coins but nodded and quickly put them into his chest and locked it. After that he sat down on a chair and grabbed a pipe from his pouch and started to fill it with tobacco, Nox did the same grabbing one of the cigarettes and lit it up after taking a seat. Brookr lit his pipe and blew out some smoke.
“The bounty hunter guild…generally you could say they’re good. Hunting down criminals, keeping the cities clean when the guards can’t handle it. They’re a neutral faction and that gives them some benefits, because they operate all over the world, gain entry to every kingdom and make a lot of money with it. Staying neutral is their biggest boon if you ask me because even with lots of members they aren’t seen as competition. Members get punished for abusing their power, some get kicked out from the guild, others get executed.
Of course there is also corruption inside the guild like everywhere but they manage to contain it…most of the time, there are still more remote locations where the guild took over entire strips of land. In this world it’s a good organization but only because most other organizations are bullshit. Still, it seems you have some talent for bounty hunting so at least take a look at them, I also got the bounty you just fulfilled from them.” After his monologue he looked up at Nox and smiled. Patting his knee. “Well lad, it seems you may find your place in this world after all. Come on out with you, there is no need for sitting around.”
Nox smiled and stood up. “Thank you for the information Brookr, I will visit the guild and see how it goes. Oh before I leave town I come pick up some more ammunition. See you later!” He left the room through the now open doorway and made his way out the building, when he walked over the courtyard the dwarf that made his armor yelled in his direction. “Looking good kid! Don’t forget the mask, it hides your identity if you wear it!” he smirked and turned back to a project. Before Nox stepped onto the busy street he put the mask on and pulled the hood over his head. Time to visit the guild, he thought to himself. This time he didn’t need to push his way through the people, his armor and rifle made him look like some sort of villian, the people making room for him as he strode through the streets. Confidence was filling him and he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face, Nox was glad nobody could see it. “Let’s hope they aren’t a bunch of lunatics…” he whispered more to himself but he made the decision to finally act and not react to everything. It was time to find his place.