by Ink Bamboo
“You could just leave,” suggested Amro, realizing his partner was still wasting time on this issue. “These slum-dwellers have already outlived their usefulness. What you need now is some real-life experience, not even my soul domain can make up for that.”
“Don’t you feel bad after taking advantage of them?” questioned Zaros. “They spent so much of their own money buying the herbs and maps we used. We surely can’t leave them like this?”
Sure can, thought Amro. I might just take care of them if you keep insisting.
Over the course of the last week, Zaros had grown slightly attached to those from the slums. Initially, he had been shocked by Amro’s plan. Taking control of a small criminal organization just to take their resources wasn’t something in line with his character. Yet somehow, Amro had no qualms about pushing him into situations he wasn’t comfortable with.
“Anyway,” said Zaros. “Can someone bring me up to date with our situation?”
“Yes, boss,” answered a burly man with bronze skin. He and his brother were part of Slyfox’s old inner-circle, usually responsible for guarding the entrance of their hideout and handling communication with outsiders. “Our profits have plunged to half their usual amount. Those from the rival gangs have been blocking our avenues of trade with the nobles. If things keep going like this, we won’t have enough money to feed ourselves in a few weeks.”
The nobles yet again, thought Zaros. Ever since he came to this town, he had come to realize the importance such figures held for society. In the Kingdom of Nyx, nobles held control over the commoners’ lives. In one way or another, all business had to go through them, leaving very few avenues for people to move vertically in the pyramid of power.
Nothing seemed able to escape the noble’s grasp. It made Amro’s theory of the noble’s involvement in the King’s plan to wipe his settlement that much more reasonably believable, giving rise to a blood-tinged hatred in Zaros’s eyes.
“Can someone explain to me why we have to go through them again? Can’t we just work with the guilds directly?”
“I’m afraid they wouldn’t let that one go, boss,” said another hoodlum sitting with them. “The guilds are controlled by the nobles. If we try to go around them, we will be making an enemy of them. Someone tried a few years ago, let’s just say it didn’t end well.”
Despite Zaros’s ignorance of how things worked in Sol, nobody dared to shun his authority. Over the past few days, a courageous few had tried. Unfortunately for them, Zaros’s instincts had been polished by Amro’s personal training, leaving him little room for restrained fighting methods. The luckiest amongst the bunch had ended with a broken arm and a few cracked ribs, granting Zaros a reputation for being ruthless.
Not that he was aware of it.
Zaros sighed, unable to come up with an answer to their dilemma. In part, he was to blame for their current situation. His arrival and Amro’s meddling had shattered the balance of this town’s ecosystem. Alas, as someone from the forest settlement’s, he was ignorant on how to address the situation on his own.
“Does anyone have an idea?” asked Zaros, attempting to solve the issue with his subordinates’ help. He was willing to listen to others’ input given how he had so much to learn when it came to managing an organization.
However, no one answered. Life in the slums was lived day by day, be it by charity, extortion, or risk. His subordinates still remembered the night he arrived vividly, and what could happen if he felt challenged. They still couldn’t relate his amiable side to the ruthless fighter they had witnessed before. The screams from Rat as his bones were broken still echoed in their minds from time to time.
Even after a few seconds went by, Zaros kept staring at the group expectantly. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the situation would change. Being left with no other option, he held back a sigh and turned to one of the men, pointing at him directly. “You, give me an idea.”
The man stuttered, seemingly afraid to answer. “Boss, I really don’t know, please ask someone else.”
Zaros clamped down on his tongue to keep himself from criticizing the man’s lack of spine. The way Amro told him the events from that night, they shouldn’t be behaving in such a way. He couldn’t help but wonder if Amro had understated the events of that night.
“Boss, can’t we just have some more time to think it over?” asked one of the thugs.
“Yes, boss. It’s not like we can come up with ideas overnight,” said another one.
Zaros realized he might have been a tad too eager. If the hoodlums themselves weren’t worried about the nobles taking action, then perhaps he shouldn’t be either.
Taking their requests into account, he decided to dismiss them. “Okay. We’ll continue this conversation later.”
Not long after he voiced his permission, his subordinates ran off, leaving him alone. He felt rather frustrated over their attitudes. Back in his small village, honest work was the norm. Through collective efforts, everyone was taught how to survive by relying on their own abilities. Even someone like him without a family was able to manage, despite the hardships involved.
As to why such a different outlook existed in this ‘civilized’ town, he had no idea.
It wasn’t like he didn’t have issues of his own to solve. He still thought of his own revenge every night. That is, the nights when Amro wasn’t pulling his consciousness inside his soul domain to train him. Becoming the gang’s boss was only a temporary measure. One Amro had created for him to use and discard.
Knowing he couldn’t hide forever in the mess hall, Zaros rose from his seat, ready to walk to the door. His internal clock was telling him it was about time for another training session with Amro, the very last thing he wanted to do right now.
“I need a break,” Zaros said to himself.
“It doesn’t seem like you’re getting one anytime soon,” said Amro. “Look.”
Almost immediately, Alexander entered the room. He appeared disheveled, panting in an attempt to catch his breath, “Boss! The guards are here!”
Zaros returned to his seat, thinking about explaining to Alexander how useless the guards were in the slums. The lanky teenager should have been aware of that kind of information. They were a bunch of good-for-nothings who stole the food from unsuspecting citizens.
It was clear to see that he still held a grudge from his first day in the slums.
“The guards from the noble’s district,” clarified Alexander, noticing Zaros’s increasingly distracted look. “They want to speak with you.”
Oh.
Zaros thought about it for a second. He had recently learned the gang had some shady dealings with the nobles. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for some of their representatives to come and check on things after a change in leadership.
“I see,” said Zaros, realizing Alexander had not been speaking about the rabbit-stealing trash. “Please show them inside.”
A minute later, Zaros focused his gaze onto the two men entering the room. One of them was comically tall while the other was as short as a dwarf. Both of them stood clad in metal armor, elaborate and stylish, unlike the uniform worn by the guards placed at the slums.
Zaros noticed their gait carried a hint of arrogance. They acted like the ground below their feet wasn’t worthy to be stepped on by their boots. Of course, their apparent disdain was further confirmed by the looks of sheer contempt they sent Zaros’s way.
“So, the rumors were true,” remarked the willowy guard. “I didn’t expect them to be this accurate.”
“Surprisingly so,” noted his pint-sized partner. “I didn’t expect Slyfox to be defeated by a runt.”
Both guards broke into laughter, ignoring the irony behind their joke. Just like the other gangs in the slums, they seemed to believe Slyfox’s defeat was a fluke. Their presence was probably intended to intimidate Zaros into lowering his head in obedience.
Of course, they were not planning to do so by making fun of him. They had come und
er their master’s orders bearing serious business.
“Say, kid,” added the shortest guard. “When are you planning on paying this month’s quota?”
Zaros raised his left eyebrow. Quota?
“I take it by your expression that you’re ignorant about it,” said the tallest guard. He had the devious smile of a merchant, an expression Zaros knew only invited trouble. “You should know, your predecessor had a deal with us. A girl or two and a couple men every month, all in exchange for us looking the other way whenever you cause trouble in this city.”
Zaros’s expression changed into a frown. Were they speaking of slavery?
With disdain in his voice, the other guard continued, “You know, ‘voluntary workers.’ You pick them out for us and convince them it’s in their best interest to do whatever we instruct them to.”
Zaros’s frown grew stronger as his suspicious were confirmed. Slyfox’s deal probably consisted in offering a few people in exchange for everyone else’s safety. Perhaps out of need, perhaps out of greed. He had no way to know. What he could tell, however, was that these guards were set on establishing the same deal with him.
“I want to speak about this deal with your boss,” he said, gaining courage from his indignation. “I don’t think this deal is convenient for my side. Perhaps, we can reach a new one.”
A look of surprise appeared in both guard’s eyes.
“The new cub has ambition,” said the tallest guard, a smirk full of mockery on his face.
“Indeed, he thinks he’s too good to deal with the goons and wants to speak directly to the boss,” added the other.
“But, aren’t we the ones who are too good to deal with him? Couldn’t we just take whatever we wanted to anyway?” said the tallest one as he placed his right hand over his sword.
In Zaros’s mind, the image of the guards seemed to overlap with the memory of the mercenaries assaulting his town. Their selfish nature and disregard for others further tarnished the image he had of nobles in his mind. He flinched only for a moment before regaining his bearing, his hands subconsciously covered by mana.
Fear slowly turned into hate, and hate turned into bloodlust. For a short moment, his gaze resembled that of a ruthless criminal, evoking a thirst for violence in disregard for his own safety. The missions Amro created inside his soul domain had done more than just allow him to use mana and a few fancy techniques. They had also slowly loosed his morals without his knowledge. As such, death didn’t escape from being included in his list of options to deal with these guards should they pick to attack.
After seeing the boy’s hands for a brief moment, the short guard placed his hand over his partner’s shoulder and shook his head.
“The kid isn’t worth it,” he said, turning back to look at Zaros. “We’ll let our boss know of your decision. I just hope you’ll be able to shoulder the consequences.”
Without further discussion, both guards rose to their feet and left as fast as they had come in. Stomping with disdain.
Once outside, the tallest guard expressed his frustration. Displaying disagreement amongst themselves in the enemy’s presence was never a wise thing to do. With indignation, he asked, “Why did you stop me, Seth?”
“Mata, that kid knows how to control mana,” replied the short, stumpy guard. “It seems like the rumors might be true. We might even earn a bonus once we report this.”
“Really?” Mata asked in disbelief.
The answer had taken him by surprise. He might have been a rank one fighter, but every time he managed to use mana was on instinct, not by his will. He found the idea of a child being on the same rank as him hard to believe.
“Yes, the boss will be really interested in this news. If that kid is really an envoy from those bastards up north, then there will soon be blood covering the streets.”
“Does it have to be us that let him know about it? You know how the boss gets when he’s mad,” said Mata, scratching the back of his neck.
The short guard chuckled for a moment, answering only once he delivered a punch to Mata’s right knee. “Don’t worry, I have a plan to make the news easier for him to swallow.”
Mata stared at Seth in an attempt to understand the meaning behind those words. Only after seeing the malicious smile plastered on his partner’s face did he realize the plan Seth come up with. Soon, his lips began forming the same grin.
Having reached a tacit understanding, the guards started patrolling the streets in search of a lucky ‘volunteer’ for their plan.
Chapter 15
A call to arms.
Sunlight shone on Zaros’s face, waking the boy up from his sleep. Unfortunately, with the return of his consciousness, something else had surfaced. Pain. Cramps and discomforts that served to remind him that Amro’s training wasn’t limited to the soul domain.
Of course, that was only the physical side. Zaros couldn’t ignore his mental exhaustion either. The constructs in Amro’s soul domain had forced him to experience pain ten times worse than the one he lived through in reality. Because of this, Zaros had unconsciously improved beyond his normal learning speed, eager to avoid Amro’s torturous lessons. Like that, Zaros had come to learn many techniques that would often be unknown to those of his rank.
According to what Zaros managed to grasp from Amro’s explanations, rank one required adapting the user’s body to energies like the ambient’s mana or the soul’s aura. Rank two, on the other hand, required the user to not only accept mana from the environment, but to be able to consciously become a source of it. Human’s who achieved this point were usually far in between.
Amro had also mentioned something about those beyond the point of rank three, like how they managed to achieve a permanent state of body enhancements. Alas, his exhaustion made it a hard task to remember that much information. Mana or aura, both were tools to his disposal — that’s all he needed to know.
Of course, there were also differences amongst those of different ranks. That’s why someone like the captain who led the mercenaries to invade Zaros’s town and the old leader of the slums, Slyfox, could share the same rank, but still have such a disparity in strength. Not that it mattered to Amro.
Zaros was currently at rank one. He was capable of using the natural mana of the environment to cover some of his body at will, strengthening the effects his actions had over the natural world. Alas, he still found himself unable to do the same with aura. Fortunately, given Amro's little 'experiment', he could be considered at the threshold of rank two, as his body's inner forces had awakened once before already.
As things were, he needed just a little more time to solidify his foundations and gain full control over his own aura.
That being said, Amro was eager for more improvements. That way, when he decided to intervene and take control of Zaros's body, he would find himself less restricted. Amro needed Zaros to reach higher thresholds — his knowledge and mastery as a former god would become even more useful at that point.
Hopefully today’s less exhausting, thought Zaros, rubbing his eyes and straightening his back. He had intended to get some information on the nobles that day. Given how one family of them had already approached him, he knew more would do soon after. The old merchant in his town often argued that calamities came one after the others.
*Knock knock*
Zaros knew his comfortable lifestyle so far was in part thanks to Amro’s decisions. Selfish as he might be, he understood his partner cared about his well-being. That of others, however, he wasn’t entirely sure.
*Knock knock*
Unfortunately, it wasn’t time for that. His peaceful moments of introspection had come to an end. So much for an uneventful day.
*Knock knock*
Zaros stood up from his bed, stretching his arms and feet as the persistent knocking still echoed throughout the room. After yawning one last time and enjoying what would probably be the last seconds of peace in his day, he made his way to the door.
Without any ru
sh, Zaros opened the door. He was intent on not having his mood soured by the persistent knocking. Alas, he came to regret it the moment he did.
Like a stray dog welcomed back to his home, Alexander tumbled through the doorway with haste in his steps. His eyes were red and his chest was heaving, displaying his shortness of breath. It seemed like it truly wouldn’t be a peaceful day.
At that moment, Zaros felt too tired to hide his emotions. His frown evidenced how displeased he was with his subordinate’s attitude. What was he doing in his room, anyway? That duty belonged to Maria and her often lacking breakfasts.
"They took her!" Alexander cried, still trying to catch his breath. His words, however, didn’t help his cause, which was made evident by the look of confusion on Zaro’s face. Only after seeing the perplexed look on him did Alexander realize he had to be more detailed.
"The guards who came yesterday. They took my sister!" he said, attempting to clarify.
Zaros’s mind blanked for a moment, recalling the events from the day before. Amro’s soul domain had the cumbersome effect of constantly messing with his sense of time. Eventually, he found himself able to recall the unpleasant folks he had met with, and more importantly, the words they left behind: “Be ready to shoulder the consequences.”
Were these the consequences they spoke of?
"Please tell me what happened in more detail," Zaros requested. If it was anything like what he was thinking of, those guards had touched his bottom line.
“Yesterday, my sister and I were walking around during the night. We were collecting some money for our friends when those two guards blocked our way,” said Alexander. “We weren’t doing anything unlawful, I swear.”
Highly unlikely, thought Amro.
Alexander took a long breath, calming himself down before continuing. "They started threatening us, telling us that our presence was making others uncomfortable in town. It was a clear abuse of authority, those bastards! They argued we had to pay a fee as punishment and threatened us into a corner. Since we couldn’t pay, they said they would have to take something of an equivalent value from us."