And immediately from where I was, he became more cynical and murky, throwing many sharp ice needles at me, more compressed water balls, non-stop, shouting at me again and again:
"Show me!"
Then I had to protect myself and dodge twice as fast, but I didn't notice that the water balls I was dodging were coming back. That was impressive, but when I realized, I already had two balls compressed on my head until the others came together, forming a bigger mass.
Breaking through my defense, he hurt me by stabbing an ice needle into the thigh of my right leg. Screaming in pain, I swallowed water and began to choke. I forgot about the pain because I felt like I was going to die. Maria, who still couldn't lift her mother, was screaming for me, but I didn't know what to do. I clung to the idea that it's a bad idea to kill him. I was desperately trying to get out, but I could not. The water, the flow of water also started to compress my neck, and I heard as from far away he laughed and said something that made me change my mind:
"You're trying to cover up that you're not a fucking nutcase like us, but I'll tell you what: either you let me leave with these two girls you want to protect so much, or I'll kill them in front of your eyes now," he said while pointing at them.
I immediately screamed in anger out of impotence:
"May he rot in hell!"
And I raised under his left foot a long, pointed rock form, which split his foot and grew rapidly toward his head. But the good son of a bitch is inhuman: with his reflexes, he dodged it and broke it in half, avoiding the point. But from the suffering, he lost his concentration; the concentrated ball of water deformed and, for a second, watching him suffer for his badly wounded foot, it felt good to finally have power over him. He tried to run toward me in desperation. At the unexpected moment, my head clicked, and I became aware of the ground.
I formed solidified earth that froze his movements, and to the other, who barely managed to get to his feet, I did the same. And with each one, I began to enclose and compress their wounds to cause them more pain where it hurts most… They screamed and screamed, and for a moment, I felt and focused only on causing them pain. But at that, at last, the guards appeared.
"But what is all this commotion?" he looked at me.
I didn't know what to answer, but the least I understood was why he was looking at me if I am the victim. I immediately looked around and noticed that there were two men kidnapped and suffering, a mother just getting up, her little girl crying with her eyes closed, clinging to her mommy, and two dead people. And me, standing in the middle of all this… I'm a suspect. I'm screwed, I thought.
"Hey… I… I didn't do anything."
The guard looked at me and then at Maria and Kira, but when Kira saw that it was me, she recognized me and was surprised but didn't give the best face.
The dirty guy saw the opportunity and took advantage of it to get away with it:
"Guard, he set us up and attacked us! Me and my companions tried to protect these defenseless ladies from this pervert. We resisted, but some of us didn't…"
Angrily, I shouted:
"Shut up, you damned toad!"
And immediately I locked him up even more until I broke his left leg completely. Of course, he screamed, and I made sure that, at the same time the guards jumped on me to arrest me, I put my index finger down so that the bastard would never speak again in his life.
"Arrest the boy," said one of the four guards who arrived.
I let them catch me so they could do what they would have to do to me. Kill me, I guess. They are going to execute me, but quickly little Maria comes to my defense:
"Let him go! He didn't do anything!"
"And now what did you do to the girl, poor dirty thing?"
And he hit the guard's leg and shouted, "Oh, little booger…" As the girl has tremendous strength for her age, I'm sure the guard felt it.
"Let him go! Don protected us."
But he could already see my misfortune. The guard pushed him away, and as Kira, barely conscious and in shock, remained on the ground without saying anything, staring into the void. I called out to her to try to do something, but she wouldn't listen. I think I'm the same or worse. And I was planning to meet lots of new people, go on my first adventure, fall in love with a beautiful girl, and live happily together, as grandmother and teacher… But I'm going to die before all that happens…
"Let the young man go!"
"Sir, but…"
"Capture the other one who's trying to escape from under your noses, you pair of fools!"
And indeed, when I looked up, I saw that the fire user was slowly trying to run away. Until he tried to run, but the captain, or seems to be the boss, that same imposing man who warned me about the nights around this place, electrocuted him by sending a burst of lightning on him. And I learned that the guy was a lightning user, one of the most overrated skills in the world.
"Let the boy go now and capture that ruffian for me. Take him to the capital of Montesis."
"Yes, sir."
He looked at me indifferently, as he did before, with a look that doesn't judge but with words that I know hurt:
"I warned you, boy. For a moment, I thought I heard my master. How awful," I thought. And he went on:
"They always hang around with their boss of the worst kind, rank 4, who thinks he's the big deal. They have done many ugly things in almost every town. They are wanted and are part of a gang of ruffians called the Weeping Snakes. But you were lucky we got there as soon as possible."
"Hey, what rank are you?"
"Rank 4. Why? You want to join the army? Being so heroic, you might be talented. Despite your looks, you held your own against a rank 4 and three other guys. I expected no less from the son of the Owl. I could help you get in. What do you say?"
"Well, thanks for the offer, but I don't need to. I don't want to live that kind of life."
But I said quietly: "But what rank will I have?"
"Don, help me! My mom doesn't react; I don't know what to do."
I quickly tried to walk to Kira. When I saw her, she just stood still, her eyes full of fear and well-rounded, as if very distracted in a vacuum in which she is drowning. I touched her and tried to ask if she was okay. And, out of nowhere, the instant I touched her, she was back to normal. I just stared at her without saying anything; I didn't understand. She looked at her daughter, looked around, and the guard asked her, just as confused, if she was okay. After a lost minute, she answered:
"Yes."
She looked at me again and stayed like that for seconds, lost in my eyes…
"Kira, are you sure you're okay?"
But after I asked her, it was as if I had driven her out of her mind. She just took Maria's hand and forced her to leave without saying anything to anyone. I called him over and over again, but he didn't give me any attention. And that's when I noticed that this is what I get for thinking I'm going to save someone. *Never think you're a hero*, disappointed, I thought back to my teacher's words. And sometimes I hate that he's right. But I still worry about her.
"Will she be all right?" I asked the air.
"Don't worry. She's a tough mother, despite losing her husband in the war against the impure over 20 years ago. And she has a very special ability that I've rarely heard of. That sometimes makes her seem a bit distant with people."
"And what is it?" She looked at me, and I continued. Just in case.
"She has an ability that allows her to absorb, manipulate, and feel what the person she comes in contact with feels."
Right there, so many questions, memories, and doubts came to me. But I wondered why he was looking at me so much.
"Well, kid, I'm leaving. And if you change your mind, my name is Balthar Ulrich. The army at the front needs new talents to face the threat from the Forest."
*Are you referring to the Forest of the Seven Kingdoms, the calamity that is slowly eating and infecting the nearby kingdoms?* But still, these are things that don't interest me. At least, I want to live, to have my fortune, a little house… And suddenly I melted in my own thoughts at the thought of having a girlfriend… What an illusion, to fall in love with a person.
Meanwhile, I was in my balls thinking about stupid things:
"Sir, we haven't found the boss of these lackeys. We lost him… He was right here; we turned around and he was gone."
"Really? I find it rather odd that he could run away from you, Roma."
"He managed to feel a presence besides us, but the problem is that he's here, but far away… I don't know! I must be a bit tired. I haven't slept for a few days. They are requesting a lot of trackers at the front these days. They say that the forest is more active than usual."
"It doesn't matter… As long as the knights of the second division are at the front, everything will be fine. But what matters now is to find the rank 4 braggart, whose name I've already forgotten."
"Baldhur, sir."
"Yeah, that's the one. Don, you don't know… Hey, Don!"
"Hey, yeah?"
"Yeah. It's just… I was imagining…"
I instantly realized I was making a fool of myself and apologized:
"Well, I'm sorry, hehe… And… well?"
He kept looking at me as if to say, *What's wrong with this guy?* And he asked me:
"Didn't you see the guy in rank 4?"
"No. I don't know. Maybe that dirty guy got away."
---
And while Don is making these statements, Baldhur is more than 10 meters underground, forcing him to swallow the earth through his mouth while he tries to scream from the pain and exhaustion of swallowing so much earth without stopping, until he faints. We assume that Don's idea was not just to bury him. He seems not to be playing games when he said he would give him the equivalent of his evil.
---
"Are you sure you don't know?" Mr. Balthar asked again.
But, looking him in the eye, I told him again that I didn't know anything. And somehow I managed to slip away.
"Well, I have to go now because I still have to go to the blacksmith's shop, which I haven't been to yet."
"It's already closed, but I'll go with you, since you're in a hurry and that grumpy guy won't even open the door for you."
"So? Well, that's fine with me. Heh, heh… heh."
"Then let's go."
And I looked back and noticed the mess I left on the place… But it's not like it was my fault either. Well, partly yes, but not really… no. It's not my fault, the end.
On the way, I explained to Mr. Balthar about my upcoming trip and, with nothing, he proposed to help me as long as I join the army… He keeps insisting, but I'm not interested anyway. Arriving in front of the blacksmith's shop, I spent some time looking at how simple the stores around here always are: a simple little wooden house, the usual worn stairs, the little lamp on one side… All the typical things of a wooden tavern. But I wonder if the houses in the metropolis look like this.
"Victor!" shouted Mr. Balthar.
He began to call him louder and louder until we heard slow but powerful footsteps sinking the floorboards. The long shadows that escaped under the light of the door defined a massive and imposing body. Right there he stood for two seconds in front of the door, and we felt it. For the first time, when he opened the door, I noticed my eyes go up and up at the sight of a gigantic dwarf.
It seems I had imagined things. I lowered my head, and he couldn't even be five feet tall, and he wasn't imposing at all. But his voice… it was meltingly deep.
"What do you want?"
"What? Aren't you glad to see me, old friend?"
"You never have a problem with bullshit, do you, Balthar?"
"You never have a problem with bullshit, do you, Balthar?"
Suddenly I was staring at two rough and imposing fellows trying to kill each other. I looked at Mr. Snuch on one side and Mr. Balthar on the other… What do I do? Do I butt in? Come to think of it, one is rank 4, and the other, to look at him like that, will have to be at the same level or more… No!
Definitely, yes, it's a very bad idea. I took two steps away, and then more, little by little…
"What are you doing? Where are you going?" asked Balthar.
"Well… it's just… they look angry, don't they?"
"What's wrong? The guy's my corduroy. Crazy, real is death! And baaam!"
Balthar slapped him on the back with a beautiful graceful smile of benevolence, looking at me and him. But I don't think Mr. Snuch liked it at all, returning a direct and silently penetrating look. Suddenly, he looked at me and said:
"What do you want, boy? I guess this mongo brought you."
"He just needs to buy a ring, as he is about to leave on his first trip through the lands of Count Richard Choiniere," answered Mr. Balthar for me.
"What ring? Well… My manners: you can come in. Not you!" —referring to Mr. Balthar.
He insisted on wanting to come in, but Snuch didn't let him in. In the end, he left him waiting outside but still said he would go. Even Mr. Snuch didn't let him say goodbye and slammed the door in his face.
"Why are you enemies if you seem to be friends?"
"We are friends, but he owes me 1500 gold coins for everything he has on him, the good cheapskate, with all those noble superiors he has in his pocket. When he pays me, I'll acknowledge his friendship… And what ring do you want? Tell me!"
"A common ring."
"A regular ring?" he asked in confusion. "You don't buy them; you make them, kid. And why do you want a regular ring if you could just tell me the type of ring imbued and what it does?"
"I don't think you can do what I want."
"Don't underestimate me, boy. I assure you, you'll regret it."
"So, could you make a blue metal-based teleporter that, with the push of a button, the place you imagine you could get to instantly?"
"What nonsense are you talking about, kid? That's impossible."
"Impossible? What are you saying if this is the most basic of things?"
I immediately gave him a demonstration and, evidently, he turned pale when he noticed. He told me again that it is not possible, and I demonstrated it once more. He asked to see the device more closely. I was afraid to give it to him and began to wonder if something like this seems strange to him because I would give it to him. Well, I can make another one… and I gave it to him.
"How interesting…" His left eye began to glow and create a blue sphere that contained my key inside. It has thin layers of ether layered on top of each other, with runes that are unknown to me. It also uses molten obsidian crystal… And… this is a marvel. What you did, boy… How much for it?"
When he heard that he couldn't sell it, he got a huge downer. And the excited man became the grumpy man he was before.
"If you don't want to sell it, tell me how to make the ring for you, at least. Talk fast, boy!"
"I can't give you details. Don't worry; I just need it to fit on my fingers."
"If that's what you want, it'll cost you 10 gold coins."
"And why so much?"
"Because you're asking for double the work without information. If you're going to argue anymore, get out of my house!"
"No, it's okay. Here's your payment. Well, I have a little bit more left because I don't know how much I have left to go to the city."
"Don't worry. You can stay here because I'll surely finish tomorrow…."
And a little girl came running down the stairs shouting:
"Grandpa, grandpa, I've already made my first fireball!"
And her mother running after her:
"Maria, it's too late. Go back to bed."
And I was surprised to see that the little girl who came downstairs and called the grumpy grandfather "grandpa" was little Maria. But everything was so tense a while ago? What is this? Do I still have to be here?
Maria, with an innocent smile, greeted me the moment she noticed me. But I, lost, when her mother came downstairs, my heart was already pounding. I think I was feeling fear and stress… and I don't know why. Maybe it was because I was looking at her again…
"Mr. Snuch, it was a pleasure. You can keep the money. I'll find someone else."
"What are you talking about? Hey, kid! Where are you going?"
I opened the door, and the good gentleman got up and continued:
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but it's very bad manners to put a craftsman to work and leave. I offered you to sleep at my house. Are you going to wait upright or what? Stay and tomorrow you'll leave my house with your ring. Got it, kid?"
In the end, I couldn't stand such a bad mood anymore and I got hot. I don't know why, but I felt he was already teasing me… And I stared at him without saying anything, but I just wanted him to come a little closer and burn those eyes he dares to throw at me… And once again, I heard something weird again, just like a laughter between the teeth that delights in evil.
Kira:
"Maria, show Don his room, please."
Maria:
"Anh?"
Kira:
"Now."
She went straight up to her room after she said it, and Maria came and took me by the arm. I left with her because I was already getting irritated staying around this midget. It was the night I wished like never before that it would be daylight in a moment, and I immediately tried to sleep.
After a while, during the night, I almost didn't sleep because I heard a fucking shit hammer… Well, I already think it wants to bother me. But I also heard an argument…
Suddenly, little Maria opened the door and came into my room. I asked her:
"What are you doing here? Everything all right?"
"Grandpa said to me: 'Tomorrow you're leaving.' So I wanted to spend the night with you."
"And your mother agrees?"
"About that…"
"Maria… You should listen to your mother. Don't be a tantrum… You'd better go sleep in your room," I said with a smile.
"I can't…"
After hearing her answer, I thought about it. If I'm going away from this town tomorrow, you'd better spend some time with me.
"Well, now. Come here," I said.
Then I went back to sleep, and he said to me:
"Thank you."
"And why?"
"I think it was too bad to leave without saying anything to you."
"A toothless, tantrum-throwing little girl like you shouldn't think about that. I appreciate that, but it's okay. Try to forget what happened," I said, but I was even more worried about what would happen next.
"Is your mommy okay? Does she hate me?"
"I don't think so… She just said she was afraid of you and to keep me away from you. Don't tell her I told you."
I smiled a little, although confused and disappointed.
"Relax, it's our secret…."
We continued talking and singing songs that my grandmother used to teach me. I had a good time getting him to sleep, and I noticed that he had a bit of a temper like that grumpy old dwarf. But I still can't get it through my head that Kira is afraid of me… Do I think I'm doing something wrong? Why would she be afraid of me?