"Damn it!", Rio said as he scrambled around his house looking for his guild badge. 

"I know I left it somewhere around here", he said as he rummaged through his desk. 

Cal his three-eyed owl looked slightly annoyed as it watched him from it's cage. He sighed out of relief when he found it stuffed between the cushion. He made a last minute check in the mirror, the dark circles under his deep blue eyes had gotten darker. His jet black hair which had a hint of silver at the tip was a mess and his skin had gotten paler than normal. He made a mental note to take better care of himself in the future or else he'd risk his health, then with his badge and gauntlet secured, he set off to the neighborhood guild where he had been working for the past year as a lab assistant.

Already late, he decided he'd make up for lost time by using the well known shortcut in the area. It wasn't much of a shortcut as it was rather him climbing the wall between the two closest houses and moving on the roofs.

What Rio didn't count on was there being a small gathering of six people as he jumped down.

"Hmm..., the ground feels a little funny", Rio said not realizing he landed on someone.

As he stood, a well timed kick met his side.

"What kind of person comes crashing down on others out of nowhere?", said the assailant. The man was fair skinned of average height and build with golden eyes and auburn hair. 

"Just get out of here so I can go back to getting rid of these goons" said the man while pointing to the other men in the alley.

Rio stood to confront the man and while they argued back and forth slightly cursing at each other, they suddenly realized that they had been surrounded by the remaining men in the alley.

Noticing the snake tattoo on one the men's neck, Rio realised that these men where part of the 'Serpent Fangs' - A group of thugs and bandits in the area that usually terrorize small businesses and adventure parties.

"Now I'm really late", Rio mumbled to himself as he began to augment his body with mana. 

The first goon charged but Rio was faster, quickly dodging and landing a punch in his gut bringing him to his knees.

The second goon didn't charge wildly instead pulled out a small dagger from his pocket, it's edge glowing faintly green. 

"The dagger's probably poisoned, guess I've got no choice" Rio thought.

The goon lunged swinging the blade while Rio simply sidestepped and waved his fingers on the man's arm. A symbol appeared on his arm then suddenly it went limp , shocked he backed away stammering, "W-what did you do to my arm ?"

"Oh relax, it's just a simple paralysis rune" Rio answered nonchalantly 

"The feeling should be back in a day or so" he explained further.

The thug ran, screaming that they would be sorry for messing with the Serpents.

As Rio turned back, he was surprised to see that the rest of the thugs had been taken care of by the golden eyed man.

 After assembling the fallen thugs in a row, Rio drew the same rune on each person's leg. 

"That's a pretty nice trick you're using there", the golden eyed man told him.

"It's hardly a trick", he responded.

"where did you learn that? ", the man asked.

"You really shouldn't go around asking someone you just met questions like that" Rio said scowling.

"Yeah, whatever well you owe me for helping you take out these morons" the man said pointing at the unconscious thugs.

"The hell you talking about!?, owe you?, I don't even know you , For all I know you could be some deadbeat criminal whose crossed the Serpents somehow and besides I could've beaten these guys all on my own", Rio claimed.

 "Of course you could have", the man replied with a sarcastic tone.

"What's with that tone", Rio stated.

It seemed like an heated argument would ensue, when they were interrupted by a figure from the entrance to the alleyway.

Davion, the captain of the guard of this part of town was well known and respected by everyone in the town.

He was the one who took Rio in when he first arrived in this town. He was a middle aged man with rough features and a muscular build.

"Rio?, what going on here and who is that?", Davion asked.

"Sorry uncle, just got caught up in some nonsense", Rio responded while pointing at the unconscious thugs.

Davion simply sighed, "Never mind, but shouldn't you be somewhere else right now?".

"Huh, what do you.....shit, SHIT!", he cursed suddenly remembering that he was late for work.

"Reina's so going to kill me", he thought as he bolted towards the guild.

Now that Rio was gone, Davion turned to face the golden eyed man and asked who he was.

"My name is Cain", he replied. He also explained that he had just moved here last week and was unfamiliar with the terrain which led to him asking one of the thugs about the place and being led here instead.

 "These thugs are getting bolder each day", Davion grimaced. "If you need a guide around the city you should either ask the guild or the city guards", he advised.

"Sure but never mind that, do you know that kid?", Cain asked.

"You mean Rio?", Davion said.

"Where did he learn to do those symbols?", he asked.

Davion sighed again," I've told him to be careful with those, as far I know he's always been able to use runes and I've known him since he was eight". " Why do you ask?", Davion asked, wary. He had always been protective of Rio.

" Relax, I'm just curious", Cain said noticing Davion's suspicion. "where can I meet him?", he asked.

"Let's go", Davion said knowing fully well that even if he was a suspicious character he wouldn't be able to do anything where they were going.

"I said I wasn't going to do anything to him", Cain protested.

Davion turned back and said," you wanted to meet him right, then let's go to the Silver Talons guild".