The first man charged. Arwin took care to avoid getting a good look at his face. In his later years of fighting against the monster horde, he’d taken to avoiding staring into someone’s eyes as they died.
At first, he’d always seen monsters as nothing more than mindless killers that sought blood because it was their nature.
That wasn’t true. It was said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and Arwin had seen everything in the eyes of those he had cut down. He had seen desperation – he had seen fruitless hope – and, inevitably, he had seen death.
It was much easier to kill without looking at the eyes. Arwin leaned back, letting the thief’s dagger flash past his face, and brought his fist up. He fed a small amount of magical power into his hand, and heat surged around it as his knuckles connected with the man’s chin.
There was a loud crack as the thief’s head snapped back. Fire flared around Arwin, scorching the man badly. He let out a terrified scream, but Arwin didn’t leave him to suffer long. His fist crashed back down, taking the man in the head and putting him to eternal sleep.
“I already gave one of you a second chance,” Arwin said as the man crumpled at his feet. He turned to the others, who were staring in disbelief at the speed that their ally had been killed. “If you take one step closer, you will meet the same fate.”
Arwin didn’t expect his words to work. Nobody had ever taken him up on them before. But, to his surprise, one of the four remaining men turned on his heel and fled. The largest of them called out a curse, but the man didn’t heed it.
“He is wiser than you,” Arwin said, pointing his hot poker at them like a sword. “Last chance.”
“Murderer!” the boss screamed, charging at Arwin. Lightning crackled around his body and gathered at the tip of his sword.
“Those idiots were your guild? You weren’t even in the name.”
“Yes, I’m aware. There aren’t a lot of options. They seemed fine enough when I joined, but…” Reya trailed off, then shrugged. “I was wrong. I tried to leave, and you saw how that turned out in the alleyway. I’m not great at frontal confrontations. The Mesh hasn’t graced me with a Class yet, so I’m not too strong either. I didn’t have a good way to fight back when they were watching me.”
“Sounds like you should learn how to use a sword.”
That clearly wasn’t the answer Reya had been expecting. She winced, then gave him a small shrug. “I guess. I’m not very strong, and I don’t really love fighting. I’m much better at nicking things.”
“And you are telling me this because…?”
“Well, you’re moving in, right?” Reya glanced around the crumbling smithy, then cleared her throat. “I was… uh, hoping you might be recruiting.”
Arwin blinked in confusion. “Recruiting? For what?”
“I don’t know. Something. A gang?”
A snort slipped out of Arwin’s nose. He grabbed the dead men’s bodies and dragged them over to the corner, stacking them until he could figure out what to do with the bodies. “I’m not starting a gang.”
“Oh.” Reya twiddled her thumbs, but she still made no signs of leaving. Arwin glanced down at his hands. They were wet with blood. Letting out a sigh, he turned to face her. “You shouldn’t ally with people you fear.”
And I don’t want to deal with anyone right now. I just want to be left alone.
“It’s better than getting stabbed in the back while I’m sleeping.”
“There are a bunch of empty houses on this street. Go take one of those.”
“I might run into one of the other gangs,” Reya said, wincing at the glare in Awin’s eyes. “If you want me to leave, I’ll leave. I just thought it could be mutually beneficial.”
“Mutually beneficial? How so?”
She turned, latching onto the small branch that Arwin had unwittingly extended. “What do you need? I can do it for you. I’m not the best at fighting, but I’m great at stealing things. People tell me things too. I can get information, or I could find other gangs for you to take over. You really wiped those guys out, so I bet–”
“Stop,” Arwin said, raising a hand to stave off the flood of words. He didn’t relish the idea of stealing from anyone or going around murdering all the criminals hiding in the slums of the city, but information – that was something he needed more than anything else. “You said you could get information?”
“If it’s about anything or anyone in Milten, I’ll get it. I swear. Give me a test to let me join your gang. I’ll pass it.”
“I’m not starting a gang,” Arwin snapped.
I’m not a criminal. I do not kill needlessly – and I definitely don’t want to play politics with a bunch of idiots.
“I am willing to trade,” Arwin said, cutting Reya off. “And if you can bring me useful information, then I will not object to your presence so long as you remain silent when you do not need to speak. Is that acceptable?”
Reya opened her mouth, then closed it again. She very pointedly crept over to her dagger and, after a quick glance at Arwin to make sure he didn’t object, picked it up and returned it to a sheathe at her side.
She then, moving with the speed of a crippled sloth, inched her way over to the wall and sat down against it. The whole process took nearly a minute, and Arwin couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than watch.
Is she screwing with me?
“You don’t have to be that quiet,” Arwin said. “I’m not going to kill you if you sneeze. Just… don’t bother me.”
Reya let out an explosive breath. “Oh, thank the Mesh. I was going to suffocate from trying to breath quietly.”