“You good?” Deacon asked after a minute where he pulled out a cigarette and awkwardly lit it with only one hand. “I’m fine cooling our heels here for a bit if you need it.”
Sighing, I shook my head, “I need to get used to it. The topic is going to come up a lot.”
Deacon nodded, but didn’t say anything, just took a long drag and blew it out the alley.
I looked at him after we’d been there a few minutes and he was still occasionally puffing on the fading cigarette. I nodded in his direction, “What’s with the smoking?”
“Hm?” He looked back at me, having been watching the entrance to the alley. “Oh, it’s a blend that enhances the eyesight and helps with alertness. I mostly just do it when I need to think.”
I snorted, “Deep thoughts?”
“Something like that…” He responded, contemplating something. After another long pause, he shrugged and asked, “So, why does it piss you off so much?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Slavery. Why does it make you angry?” The question was asked calmly, but looking at him he wasn’t being flippant about it.
I rolled one shoulder and looked away, trying to think about how to answer. “I’m not sure.”
“Liar.” Deacon responded without a moment’s hesitation.
I sighed, “Do you want some reasonable answer? It just… does. The idea of using someone like they’re a tool just… feels wrong.”
“Even the ones going into it willingly?” Deacon puffed on his cigarette.
I recoiled at the idea, “People do that? Aren’t they turned mindless by whatever is used to control them?”
He nodded but then held up a hand flat and wiggled it back and forth. “It’s more nuanced than that, but you’re mostly right. It depends on the ones you deal with, I suppose. The ones using external controllers can even get free. Eventually.”
I looked at him with disgust and then turned to look down the alley. Nothing there, just empty boxes and trash. “Doesn’t make it better.”
“It does not, no.” Deacon agreed. “But it’s legal.”
I heard my knuckles pop as I clenched my fist, “No. It’s not.”
There was a contemplative silence. I tried to dive into my own feelings, looking for something more to my feelings on the matter. As usual when looking for it, nothing popped up. No memories from another life. No hidden knowledge. The only thing was a simple list of things forbidden by the system that I’d read once. Maybe that’s enough?
I didn’t notice Deacon flicking his cigarette away. Or how he shifted positions between me and the entrance to the alleyway. I did notice a couple of men coming from deeper in the alley. Three of them wearing serious expressions and prepared to do violence. I cast Scan.
“Deacon…” I muttered, turning so he was in the corner of my eye.
“They’ve closed the alley.” He backed up so he was closer to me. “Stay close, and don’t engage. I’ve got this.”
“He’s got this, he says!” I heard someone laugh, “Look, just give us your crystals and the girl and no one gets hurt.”
“I don’t know, I kind of want him too.” I heard a feminine voice respond. “Maybe let him go after I get a chance at him.”
“I’m flattered, but on the job. Can’t mix business and pleasure, you know how it is.” Deacon responded before whistling. I watched a dome of force surround the two of us.
“Aw, cute. He’s a mage. Guess we’ll have to pop the bubble first.” The first voice said, “Break his legs and do what you want with him then.”
There was the sound of impact as the three from the alley cracked knuckles and drew weapons. A club, a knife, and a knuckle dusters. They were just waiting there, patiently.
“Deacon, can you hide us with this.” I asked, backing up so our backs were touching.
There was another sharp whistle and the world went dark. “You’ve got a plan?” He asked.
I reached to the side and pulled the tonfas from my Spatial Closet. “I’ve got some aggression to work out, and they’re not going to play nice.”
“I’ll take care of my end, are you going to be alright against all three of them?” Deacon said as I felt him moving behind me.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
I turned off all of the restrictions on Moderator’s Veil. “If I can’t, I trust you can finish them.”
There was a pause. “Danielle. We’re going to have words after this.”
The shield went down and I dashed forward. The increase was… noticeable. Apparently, the thugs weren’t expecting me to charge either, so they’d relaxed. Which was how I caught the Thief in the face with the short end of my tonfa. Blood spurted out of his nose and he fell backwards as I ducked under the swing from the man with the club.
I danced between them towards where the thief had fell. He stirred and my boot connected with his jaw. I didn’t wait to see how bad he’d been hit, since the man with the knuckle dusters had closed in on me. He jabbed I knocked his arm outward with one tonfa as the other rammed into his sternum. The idiot wasn’t wearing even basic armor, but neither was I, and he leaned forward.
I then jumped and something happened. On instinct, I moved my internal mana to my legs and they filled with heat. A flame burst from my foot and my knee rocketed up to connect with the man’s jaw, sending him flying. I landed with a stumble and only had a second to be surprised before a club swung for my head.
I ducked under it and used the wall as a springboard to be able to hit the taller man with a smashing strike with the short end of the tonfa. He stumbled back, hitting the wall. Then he shook his head and ran at me again, club held high. I moved to the side, barely dodging the blow that cracked the pavement of the alleyway.
I used the momentum to spin and cracked the back of his skull with the handle on the tonfa. He stumbled forward to a knee but started to stand back up again. I noticed the thief also slowly getting up. Deacon was past him, standing still as the wind whipped around him in a chaotic storm of debris. A woman was actually caught in it and being thrown against the walls of the alley as she spun around.
Making a decision, I ran towards the thief and kicked him in the jaw a second time, sending him sprawling. I dropped one of my tonfa and grabbed his dagger before turning to see the large man shaking his head as he stood up. The guy with the knuckle dusters was also up, though he looked more rattled.
I went in again, and actually ran up the wall as I moved towards them. The big man’s eyes went wide and he crossed his arms to shield his face, but my target was the other one. As he struck out at me, I jumped and I instinctively reached out. Wind spun up beneath me as I felt my mana get ripped out of me. It redirected the man’s blow and my momentum, though.
Then I was behind him, and I stabbed down. The dagger when straight through the back of his neck, severing his spine. The man dropped like a puppet with cut strings. As the huge brute of a man finished turning around, swinging his club horizontally, I stepped back and threw the knife.
It hit the big man… pommel first. Shit, I thought, before ducking under another blind swing. Then, I did something I wasn’t proud of.
I went low and, using the tonfa, I uppercut him in the crotch. I heard something squish, followed by a surprisingly high pitched cry of pain as he dropped the club and collapsed forward onto his knees, holding his crotch. I backed out of arms reach, but he just fell onto his side, screaming and crying.
The alley had gone silent. Deacon was staring at me. The one man still conscious on his end was staring in horror. The woman… fell from the sky onto her friend, likely no longer among the living. The thief was unconscious or he’d probably have been staring.
Deacon finally said something, though he was hesitant… “Good… good job.” I did notice he had moved his hand between me and his crotch though. “Maybe you should go get the guard…”
There was a slowly growing pool of blood coming from both Brutes, though from different areas. I looked at the thief, who wasn’t moving. I looked at their friends, who were also no longer moving now. “Yea… that might be a good idea.”
I picked up the tonfa I’d dropped and slipped both back into my Spatial Closet before stepping out of the alleyway. Apparently, a small crowd had gathered. When I stepped out of the alley, someone screamed, and I looked down to see I had a rather large amount of blood splatter decorating my shirt and arm.
“Can someone get the guards?” I asked to the crowd. “We’ll wait.”
“So, you’re saying that six people jumped you, and between the two of you killed three instead of running away?”
I rolled my eyes, having been asked some variation of this question three times already. “They were blocking both sides of the alley.”
“You didn’t have trouble getting around them, and your bodyguard could have easily gotten you out of the situation.” The man interrogating me said in a bored tone. Like I was the unreasonable one and he was just humoring me.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Am I in trouble?”
He shook his head, “No. Under Cotton Rock’s laws, an incident like this would fall under self-defense, even if you were a little excessive. What we want to know is where the weapons went.”
“What weapons?” I asked, genuinely wondering what he was talking about. I’d left everything on the thugs.
“The ones used to knock one of them out and cause severe bludgeoning damage to a man twice your height. Was it a staff? Some kind of hidden baton or expandable pole? Hidden weapons are illegal in the city.” The man responded like he’d had this exact conversation before.
“Oh. I… summoned them.” I said, trying to think my way out of it.
He sighed, “If it’s really a summoned weapon, then you’ll need to demonstrate it, otherwise you’ll be fined five hundred crystal for suspicion of harboring a hidden weapon and not revealing it.”
I checked my experience and had more than enough to cover it. “Fine. Are we done?”
He wrote down something on a sheet of paper and ripped it from a notebook. Handing it over, he tapped it. “Take this to the guard barracks when you pay the fine. If the fine is not paid within 40 hours, you will be charged with failure to pay and debt collectors will be sent to apprehend you and take you to jail until such time as someone can pay to have you released.”
I took the slip, glaring at the man. He stood up and I did as well before we both left through the only door.
Deacon was waiting for me, chatting amiably with a man on a bench. He noticed me and said goodbye to him before following me out the door. “How bad?”
“Five hundred crystals, for defending myself.” I grumbled, showing him the slip.
The bodyguard winced, but then chuckled, “Well, to be fair you could have just shown them your ability and they wouldn’t have said anything.”
“Like they wouldn’t have had a larger fine for something they can’t see that I can hide anything I want in?” I muttered as we walked away from the building.
“Oh, so it’s not just weapons?” Deacon sounded impressed, “Yea, that wouldn’t have gone over well. People with storage powers are tracked at all times and often hit with fees every time they enter or leave a city.”
I snorted, “At least I can cover the fine.”
“I’d hope so.” Deacon brought out a pouch and tossed it in the air, catching it with his only hand. “They had enough on them that I’m surprised they bothered.”
I stopped and looked at the bodyguard. “When did you…?”
“While you distracted the crowd. Fifty-fifty split?” He grinned with mischief. “It’s mostly orange and blues, but I saw a couple greens in there.”
I held out my hand and looked inside. I looked around and pulled him into another alley. With him body blocking me from vision, i absorbed the crystals in the bag.
Experience Bank: 721/2000
I did some quick math. “Six hundred and thirteen.” I handed him three green crystals. “Your cut.”
His mouth had dropped open and then he laughed, “Oh, you’re just full of surprises. I thought this was going to be a boring job.”
I slapped his arm as I walked past, “Let’s go pay my fine. Between the bag and what I earned from the fight, I have enough and want to get this over with.”
"Want to make it a thousand?"
"Ugh, fine."
2: It'd hurt Calmar far more than they'd ever suspect.