Rise of the Grandmaster

by Bradford Bates

  His men only followed him out of fear, but fear he could work with. And the ladies wouldn’t be beating down his door with invites to dinner any time soon. So when it came down to it, his life’s purpose was whatever job he was working, and his current project was frustrating the shit out of him.

  Malvonis turned his head and scanned the alley again. There hadn’t been so much as a rat running across the dirt-stained cobbles in more than an hour, but he had patience. The first thing you learned when everyone tried to kill you on sight was to be mindful of your surroundings and wait for the perfect time to strike.

  There were two men hidden behind a crate about fifteen feet away from the entrance Malvonis was watching. He’d been staring at the two men since he arrived outside of the den. It was an easier task than most. As far as thieves went, these two were just about worthless. They were more concerned with the bottle of rum they were passing between them than watching the alley.

  No one expected to be attacked at home. Home was where you were supposed to be safe. Nowhere was safe for Malvonis, so he made damn sure that anyone who screwed with him felt the same way. He’d asked the leader of this den for information. The man had happily accepted his gold, but he hadn’t delivered. It is said that there was no honor amongst thieves, but there was a brotherhood.

  Or so he’d been told.

  The only thing Malvonis cared about now was making an example out of the bastard who stole from him. You couldn’t let a thing like that slide, or every two-bit street hustler and their momma would think it was open season on his assets. Maybe it had been too long since he reminded the herd of who was in charge of this city’s underground. After tonight he hoped no one would need another reminder.

  Going back to the cardinal with his hat in hand seemed like a good way to meet the goddess in person. Despite his distaste for this world, Malvonis wasn’t ready to move onto the next life. That meant he needed to find out something, something about the man who killed the cardinal’s men.

  So far, he hadn’t found shit.

  His man came out of the entrance to the thieves’ den and started walking down the alley. He looked briefly up to where Malvonis was crouched on the roof and shook his head. So Brax thought he could take his gold and not deliver. Tonight the slimy little bastard would learn the error of his ways.

  He crept across the roof until he was above the two men on guard and prepared to jump. He pulled out his twin daggers, Tooth and Nail, before stepping onto the railing. He gauged the distance again as he leapt from the roof into the open space.

  A three-story fall goes by in a blink.

  It’s not like the movies where everything slows down. In reality, you hit the ground much sooner. By the time he exhaled, his daggers had sunk into the two men. With three hundred pounds and three stories of force behind them, the fight was over before the men could do so much as squeak.

  Who knew it was so hard to make noise when you were split from your skull to your belly button?

  He pulled his blades free of the remains, moved around the crate, and walked toward the door. He thumped on it with the butt of his dagger until a man pulled it open.

  “Piss off. We’re closed.”

  He grabbed the doorman with his left hand and sank his dagger into his stomach. The look of surprise on his face was epic. You really couldn’t replicate the look of a man who’d had a dagger shoved through his gut. He pulled the blade free and flung the screaming man into the alley behind him. The thief hit the opposite building with a sickening crunch that silenced him for good. The sound his bones made when they snapped was almost enough to bring a smile to Malvonis’ face.

  “Jerry, tell that guy to fuck off and close the door already,” a man shouted from inside.

  “Jerry can’t come to the door right now,” Malvonis growled as he stepped into the thieves’ den. “He’s got a bad case of ‘I’m too dead to fucking move.’”

  Five men sitting around a card table stood up as a sixth man strutted into the room. Brax was all swagger and bluster, but there was fear in his eyes. Fear was good. Fear was something to exploit.

  “I told your man that I haven’t found anything yet.” Brax hedged for time as his men spread out in a semi-circle.

  “And yet, the gold I paid you wasn’t returned.” Malvonis spoke slowly as his eyes moved from one man to the other.

  Brax wiggled a finger in the air. “Tsk tsk, tsk. That’s not how this works, and you know it. You pay me to try to find the information. If I can’t, or it doesn’t exist, I still get paid.”

  “You expect me to go back to the cardinal without an answer?” That would be as useful as going to the city guard and admitting all of his crimes.

  The information peddler had the gall to laugh. “Who you do business with is your own choice. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve held up my end of the deal.”

  “By what? Getting drunk and playing cards? I thought you knew enough about me to be smarter than that.” Malvonis frowned across the room. “Or have you forgotten the last lesson I taught you?”

  Brax’s haughty smile faded. “I haven’t forgotten. This time I brought more men.”

  Malvonis took the statement as his cue that talking wouldn’t produce any further results, at least not without a demonstration. He slipped his daggers back into their sheaths and reached for his throwing knives. The blades flew from his hands faster than most men could see.

  Five seconds later, Brax’s crew was lying on the ground with blood slowly pooling around their rapidly cooling corpses. Malvonis walked past the dead men, drawing closer to Braxton with each step. The man looked around the room in disbelief, his mouth hanging open like a fish on a hook.

  “The cardinal needs to know who this man is, and you’re telling me that with all of your contacts, you couldn’t find out a single fucking thing?”

  Brax backed up until he hit the wall. “It’s like he’s a ghost. No one’s ever heard of him, let alone seen the bastard. Are you sure he even exists?”

  Malvonis pulled one dagger free from a nearby corpse, relishing the feel of the cool grip against his sweaty palm. “Oh, he exists.” Without further hesitation, he stabbed the information peddler through the chest, pinning him to the wall. “But you no longer do.”

  “May you suffer the same fate when the cardinal finds out you’ve got nothing.” Brax spat a wad of bloody phlegm on Malvonis and laughed. “If his temper is anything like yours, I’ll be seeing you in hell soon enough.”

  With a roar of rage, Malvonis pulled his dagger free and cut off Brax’s head. “I guess we’ll find out.”

  The half-orc gave a sharp whistle, and two of his men entered the building. “Search this place. Bring back anything of value or any information you might find.”

  The two men looked at the destruction their boss had rained down on these men and nodded their heads faster than a flock of chickens heading to the feeding trough. Without saying another word, Malvonis pulled up his hood and stalked back out into the night.

  He had another appointment to keep.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  The healing shack was back up and running full tilt.

  Tim even had an assistant now. She made sure that those with the most serious wounds were seen first, and that he always had clean water and towels on hand. He looked around the small room and had to admit it was better than anything the temple offered.

  The light blue paint on the walls added a touch of serenity to the place. He also had some kind of vertical garden against the far wall. The extra oxygen and clean air was a real treat after being in the temple’s stone confines. Ernie even had the floor redone. New tiles covered the entire room.

  In short, the place was awesome.

  And awesome was good because Tim had been spending an inordinate amount of time in the confines of the healing shack. It seemed word had spread that there was a healer in the slums, one that didn’t charge more than you could afford. People were eager to find out if the news was true and kept sho
wing up in droves.

  He didn’t mind the extra work, but he also had other responsibilities. He was the head of a guild now, and it wasn’t like their group didn’t have other things to do. Most of them still had to reach level ten. Out of the human companions in their party, only ShadowLily had achieved that goal so far.

  Luckily for Tim, that meant she was off working on her class change quest with Cassie, which gave him the time to focus on his healing skills. He was just starting to realize how much effort it would take to become a grandmaster of one skill, let alone an entire discipline such as healing.

  The only person who hadn’t won in the deal was JaKobi. He was stuck outside the shack posing as Tim’s guard. At least he didn’t have to worry about being attacked; people tended to back off when the threat of being burned alive was on the table.

  Tim moved through the patients as fast as he could. Before he knew it, the sun started to dip on the horizon. Tim poked his head out of the door. “We're going to wrap it up for the day.”

  JaKobi was used to this by now. He turned away from the door to face the people waiting in line. Walking down the two steps so he was amongst them, he started handing out little blue cards. These would let them move to the front of the line, except for any emergencies. It wasn’t exactly fair, but it was better than a fuck off and come back tomorrow at the back of the line.

  “I’m sorry he couldn’t see you today,” JaKobi said as he handed out the cards. “Please understand the healer has many commitments, including a full-time job.”

  “Why doesn’t he make this his full-time job?” a man called out.

  JaKobi locked eyes with him. “Considering you can’t afford to be healed at the temple, one would expect you to be a little more grateful.”

  “Maybe I would be if I wasn’t going home in pain,” the man groused.

  A ball of flame appeared in JaKobi’s hand. “I can make it so you don’t hurt ever again if you’d prefer.”

  The man started to back up, holding his arms out in front of him. “I didn’t mean nothing by it. Honest, I swear.”

  “Good.” JaKobi smiled as he extinguished the flame. “Then we can keep this little incident between us, and you can come back tomorrow.”

  “Whatever you say.” The man took off at a run.

  “You forgot your ticket,” JaKobi shouted after him, barely able to keep a smile off his face.

  JaKobi handed out the rest of the little cards and turned to find a man in a light blue robe standing behind him. He jumped back a step, his flame shield roaring to life.

  Tim poked his head out of the crack in the door he’d been watching through. He trusted JaKobi enough to let him be his guard, but he was still evaluating him. While he might have handled the abrasive man differently, Tim was happy to see that the fire mage controlled the situation without incinerating anyone.

  If he knew one thing about fire mages, it was that they tended to be temperamental.

  The man who snuck up on JaKobi was lucky to have escaped without being burned. Tim was happy the mage showed some restraint because the man he nearly turned to ash was a delegate from the temple.

  Tim turning from the door as he spoke to his assistant. “That will be all today, Judy.” The plump older woman smiled when Tim slipped a silver coin into her hand. “See you tomorrow.”

  She slipped out of the door to avoid the brewing confrontation and hurried down the street. Now that Judy was safe, it was time for Tim to figure out what was going on. He stepped onto the small patio.

  Tim looked at the wall of flames and then spoke directly to their newest recruit. “JaKobi, do you mind?” The flame shield winked out of existence a moment later.

  “Sorry, boss. He startled me.” The fire mage shrugged his shoulders and started moving to his normal post by the door.

  The healer from the temple looked a little stunned at their interaction but found his voice a moment later. “May I have a moment of your time?”

  Tim moved back to the door and held it open. “Of course.”

  He didn’t know if this was a messenger from Paul telling him to hurry the fuck up and get to the temple, or if this was one of the cardinal’s minions trying to kill him. If he had to put money on it, this was one of Jepsom’s goons.

  Once the man entered the shack, Tim turned toward JaKobi, giving him a subtle nod. “Care to join us?”

  The fire mage looked at him with a questioning expression but moved from his position by the door into the shack. “Don’t mind if I do.”

  “Be ready for anything,” Tim whispered to JaKobi as he walked by. His guard gave him a worried smile but moved to stand at the back of the room where he could easily keep an eye on the proceedings.

  The fire mage had come a long way in the last couple of days. He’d spent their first fight together cringing in terror, but eventually found himself and even led the attack in their second battle. Now he was positioning himself to watch their visitor and the door at the same time. It seemed that giving the kid a second chance was all he needed to come out of his shell.

  The rest JaKobi did for himself.

  Tim stuck out his hand in greeting. “I’m Tim.”

  The healer gave Tim’s hand a perfunctory shake. “Dunstin.” The man looked around the room. “How quaint.”

  Had to be one of the cardinal’s men if he was such an asshole. “What can I help you with, Dunst?” There was his big mouth getting him in trouble again. Tim tried not to smile as he heard JaKobi snicker behind them.

  “Dunstin,” the healer corrected. “I’ve been sent by the highest authority in the temple to remind you that healing outside the temple is forbidden. You must stop all healing-related activities at once.”

  Tim pretended to consider it for a moment and then started to smile. “No, I don’t think I will.”

  Dunstin looked flabbergasted as if he never considered the possibility that someone would refuse to follow his orders. What was it with these pricks? They served the people, not the other way around. Tim turned his back on the man, effectively dismissing him, and started cleaning up the room.

  “The cardinal demands,” Dunstin blustered, “that you cease these illegal activities at once!”

  Tim faced the man, whose smile was slipping from his face, and fixed him with the cold, merciless eyes of a psycho killer. “I have two problems with what you’ve said so far. The first is that the cardinal is the highest authority in the temple. He isn’t. You have a high priest for a reason.”

  He took three quick steps forward and poked his index finger into the man’s chest. “And the second is thinking I give two shits what that bastard Jepsom thinks. I serve the goddess. It is her will that guides me.”

  “Paul saw these people needed help, and now they have it.” Tim glared at the foppish little asshole. “If there’s nothing else, you can see yourself out.”

  “Don’t think this will go unpunished. The cardinal is not a forgiving man.” Dunstin glared at him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I saw you, you were clamped in irons.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Dunst, but I think I’ll be just fine.” Tim made a shooing motion. “Now run back to your master and find out how happy he is that you failed your mission.”

  The healer glared at Tim and started to reach inside his robe. His hand stopped when the smell of something burning caught his attention. The hem of Dunstin’s robe was on fire. The man let out an undignified squawk and ran for the door. JaKobi’s and Tim’s laughter followed him into the street.

  “Try not to burn him too badly.” Tim chortled as he watched the healer running back toward the arch.

  “He’s a healer. He’ll be fine,” JaKobi replied as he canceled the spell.

  “He’ll also be back, and with help.” Tim frowned as Dunstin scuttled through the archway and out of the slums. “Let’s go back into the inn.”

  “Good, I could use a beer.” JaKobi pulled a key out from around his neck and locked the door.

  Tim
watched the archway for a little bit longer. If the cardinal suspected he was still alive, he might know Tim was the assassin. If that was the case, the next time they came for him, it would be in force. Jepsom’s empire was crumbling around him, and Tim was the author of his woes. It made sense to lash out at the one target he could hope to kill. But it wouldn’t happen today.

  For now, he was still alive.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  “Just kill him already!” Cassie roared.

  ShadowLily dropped behind the smelly fish monster and stabbed it in the back until it died. “We’ll be here all day if I don’t do this right. My quest is to kill twenty of them by stabbing them in the back.”

  “Well, these fuckers are bigger than me and are carrying tridents. I can’t even get close to them, so keeping their attention is a real bitch,” Cassie fumed. “It’s just so damn frustrating.”

  ShadowLily grinned at her best friend before kicking the body over and looting it. “But you can’t say I don’t take you to all the nicest places.”

  Cassie frowned at her slime and fish gut-covered boots. “I think we have very different ideas about what defines a,” she made air quotes, “nice place.”

  “You mean you’d rather be somewhere else?” ShadowLily stood and looked into the ocean cave they’d entered. Her quest for the class change to rogue was going well so far. After this part of the quest, she only had one last thing to accomplish.

  Not that the game had told her what that one thing was.

  The class change quest had to be done step by step. Each part of the quest only revealed itself after completing the previous step. In this case, it meant she had to kill fifteen more of these fish people by stabbing them in the back. While she could do it solo, having Cassie around made it a million times easier.

  “Why can’t quests ever be like, go to the pub and drink six pints of beer?” Cassie groused.