The pair maintained a firm handshake for a while before Anwar finally pulled away.
"By the way, I'm telling you this now since you'll find out anyway once we get to Mircrest," Anwar prefaced, making Aurelius brows furrow in expectation. Anwar then cleared his throat before saying, "I'm actually a girl. My real name is Cade." His voice was suddenly completely different, going from one resembling that of a boy to one resembling that of a young woman.
Aurelius stood still for a while before nodding slightly a couple of times, his mouth tightly shut. He then leaned closer and squinted, observing Anwar's casual facial expression more closely. He then leaned back and took a deep breath through his nose.
"Ah... okay," he said with a shrug. Then he remembered something. "Ah right, I got a question about motionless materialization..."
***
"Hmm, that makes sense. I remember hearing about it from Gabriel," Aurelius said as he made sure his bag's contents were unharmed, mostly focusing on a dark gray notebook of particularly high quality.
"Yeah, but mercenaries not accepting women into their ranks isn't the only reason I acted like a man." Cade's voice came from behind him.
Aurelius was still having some trouble getting used to that voice of hers. It just didn't really connect with a face in his mind. Such a confusing thing.
"The world is an easier place for men," Cade continued. "At least from my perspective. These things work in a funny way. Depending on personality and culture, life could be better for men or women. I'm talking about generalities here, by the way. I'm not saying your life is necessarily easy if you're a man. Just that, if you're strong and assertive, it's easier to be a man than a woman. People respect, fear, and obey you easier when you're a man."
Aurelius closed his bag and threw it onto his shoulder. He was going to need to buy a new bag and some new clothes, but the notebook was fine, so he had no complaints. "Don't worry, I think I understand."
"Hmm, that's good. People often see me as weird for doing what I do, but I just see it as making the best of my circumstances," Cade explained and turned around, beginning to walk away, leaving the Cloud-Piercing Mountains behind.
"So, what's the plan when we go to Mircrest?" Aurelius asked.
Cade kept her gaze forward. "I'll sell the enhancers and give the money to those who depend on me."
"What then?"
"Not sure. I'll probably get some more jobs."
"But what about the corruption in Mircrest? That's the reason I'm heading there in the first place."
Cade turned to her side. "Huh?"
"We should do something about that." Aurelius said like it was obvious.
Cade tilted her head with narrow eyes. "Do what?"
"We can get more money and help the people of Mircrest. Then we can get them on our side and make a difference in elections, right?"
"It isn't that simple."
"Explain it to me, then. I don't care how hard it is. I'm here to help people. Are you not?"
Cade sighed and looked to the sky. "Alright."
***
Close to the northmost border of Mircrest there was a dirty place. It was one of the cities of the poor. Such places in Mircrest were denied a proper identity and simply went by the name of the Slums.
Through said Slums, there was a large stream of water that flowed through the middle, which made it necessary for a bridge to unite the two halves of the city.
Under the beginning of the bridge, there was a platform typically used for fishing. One particular, not very eye-catching youth, liked that place a lot. Instead of a fishing rod, however, he held a cigarette. The youth was the owner of a set of well-fitting dark clothes that hugged his skinny frame. He had a pair of narrow, dark eyes, which were coupled with disheveled black hair that seemed to have been attempted to style into a side part but given up on halfway through.
The young man brought his fingers up to his face before lowering his wrists back to the rusty railing in front of him. Then he opened his mouth, and smoke rose up into the cold, dark sky. The young man looked at the cigarette in between his fingers—or rather, what was left of it.
He sighed and flicked the stump into the stream of water that seemed almost pitch-black before pulling out a box from his pocket and opening it with his thumb. The box was empty.
'Didn't I buy this one today?' he thought with a mix of annoyance and amusement before turning around and throwing the box into the stream as well. 'Whatever.'
The young man walked through the Slums, the locals walking past like he didn't exist, giving him a poorly hidden look of disgust, or making brief eye contact before beginning to hurry their steps. What a wonderful community the slums had.
Before long, he made it back to his shabby residence, where a woman, sub-par on the attractiveness scale, greeted him with a smile. "A fine evening today, isn't it, Balgair?"
"No. I feel like shit," the young man answered right before making his way into the staircase.
The woman said something from behind him, but he didn't care to listen and hopped up the stairs quickly before entering his room on the third floor. Straight after entering, Balgair lied down on the single low-quality, wooden bed with a mattress as comfortable as a hairy spider crawling on your opened eyes.
***
The next day, things seemed as usual, with Balgair up on the roofs of the Slums and his prey filling the streets. There was nothing special in sight for a long time, however.
Balgair was looking for a catch that would last him a few months, not a few days. What he needed was some rich idiot, confident enough to move with only a guard or two.
That's when a blonde woman dressed in a silver-colored dress showed herself. Alongside her, there was a young man dressed in a neat gray suit.
'Is he the guard?' Balgair thought, his eyes moving back and forth between the woman's handbag and the man beside her. 'Well, I really hope there's something in there,' he thought before standing up and covering the lower part of his face with a half-mask.
He then performed a series of setups and jumped down from the roof, landing right in front of the pair walking through the streets in broad daylight.
The man immediately pushed the woman back and performed a quick setup that led to him materializing a sword as he rushed towards Balgair.
Balgair wasn't surprised and pinched the tips of his thumbs and index fingers together before bringing them together and drawing them off of one another, revealing a kind of ethereal wire. He then wrapped the wire around the man's blade, trapping the only method of attack his incompetent, knightly ass was most likely capable of. The rest was easy, with him simply kicking the guard in the stomach, sending him flying into a crowd of shocked people before snatching the fine bag out of the woman's hand, giving her a wink in return.
Balgair then put his sense enhancement and reinforcement on mini supply and focused his essence usage on the enhancement of his muscles before jumping over the crowd that had formed around them and speeding out of sight.
He proceeded to coordinate through the maze that was the city's architecture. Surely the one who designed this shit had to be doing at least some type of narcotics. A hidden smile rested on Balgair's lips, and he passed through alleys and streets, the illumination varying on each leap.
His plan had worked smoothly. All he had to do now was make sure nobody could have followed him. Easy as...
A hand from behind grasped the bag in his hand as he was maneuvering through a narrow alley full of pipes, trash bags, and dumpsters.
He instinctively grasped the bag tighter, making his forward momentum disappear as he was yanked by the bag.
'How did the guard catch up?!' Balgair thought in shock as he amplified his mini supplies, balancing his essence usage.
Then a prickling sensation went through his body, followed by a cold sweat not long afterward.
"Let go of the bag. It's not yours," the young man in simple dark-brown clothing with golden hair and his hand on the bag said, his vibrant blue eyes the opposite of what would be called intimidating.
Balgair gritted his teeth after recovering from the initial shock. "What's it to you, Goldilocks?"
The pair maintained a firm handshake for a while before Anwar finally pulled away.
"By the way, I'm telling you this now since you'll find out anyway once we get to Mircrest," Anwar prefaced, making Aurelius brows furrow in expectation. Anwar then cleared his throat before saying, "I'm actually a girl. My real name is Cade." His voice was suddenly completely different, going from one resembling that of a boy to one resembling that of a young woman.
Aurelius stood still for a while before nodding slightly a couple of times, his mouth tightly shut. He then leaned closer and squinted, observing Anwar's casual facial expression more closely. He then leaned back and took a deep breath through his nose.
"Ah... okay," he said with a shrug. Then he remembered something. "Ah right, I got a question about motionless materialization..."
***
"Hmm, that makes sense. I remember hearing about it from Gabriel," Aurelius said as he made sure his bag's contents were unharmed, mostly focusing on a dark gray notebook of particularly high quality.
"Yeah, but mercenaries not accepting women into their ranks isn't the only reason I acted like a man." Cade's voice came from behind him.
Aurelius was still having some trouble getting used to that voice of hers. It just didn't really connect with a face in his mind. Such a confusing thing.
"The world is an easier place for men," Cade continued. "At least from my perspective. These things work in a funny way. Depending on personality and culture, life could be better for men or women. I'm talking about generalities here, by the way. I'm not saying your life is necessarily easy if you're a man. Just that, if you're strong and assertive, it's easier to be a man than a woman. People respect, fear, and obey you easier when you're a man."
Aurelius closed his bag and threw it onto his shoulder. He was going to need to buy a new bag and some new clothes, but the notebook was fine, so he had no complaints. "Don't worry, I think I understand."
"Hmm, that's good. People often see me as weird for doing what I do, but I just see it as making the best of my circumstances," Cade explained and turned around, beginning to walk away, leaving the Cloud-Piercing Mountains behind.
"So, what's the plan when we go to Mircrest?" Aurelius asked.
Cade kept her gaze forward. "I'll sell the enhancers and give the money to those who depend on me."
"What then?"
"Not sure. I'll probably get some more jobs."
"But what about the corruption in Mircrest? That's the reason I'm heading there in the first place."
Cade turned to her side. "Huh?"
"We should do something about that." Aurelius said like it was obvious.
Cade tilted her head with narrow eyes. "Do what?"
"We can get more money and help the people of Mircrest. Then we can get them on our side and make a difference in elections, right?"
"It isn't that simple."
"Explain it to me, then. I don't care how hard it is. I'm here to help people. Are you not?"
Cade sighed and looked to the sky. "Alright."
***
Close to the northmost border of Mircrest there was a dirty place. It was one of the cities of the poor. Such places in Mircrest were denied a proper identity and simply went by the name of the Slums.
Through said Slums, there was a large stream of water that flowed through the middle, which made it necessary for a bridge to unite the two halves of the city.
Under the beginning of the bridge, there was a platform typically used for fishing. One particular, not very eye-catching youth, liked that place a lot. Instead of a fishing rod, however, he held a cigarette. The youth was the owner of a set of well-fitting dark clothes that hugged his skinny frame. He had a pair of narrow, dark eyes, which were coupled with disheveled black hair that seemed to have been attempted to style into a side part but given up on halfway through.
The young man brought his fingers up to his face before lowering his wrists back to the rusty railing in front of him. Then he opened his mouth, and smoke rose up into the cold, dark sky. The young man looked at the cigarette in between his fingers—or rather, what was left of it.
He sighed and flicked the stump into the stream of water that seemed almost pitch-black before pulling out a box from his pocket and opening it with his thumb. The box was empty.
'Didn't I buy this one today?' he thought with a mix of annoyance and amusement before turning around and throwing the box into the stream as well. 'Whatever.'
The young man walked through the Slums, the locals walking past like he didn't exist, giving him a poorly hidden look of disgust, or making brief eye contact before beginning to hurry their steps. What a wonderful community the slums had.
Before long, he made it back to his shabby residence, where a woman, sub-par on the attractiveness scale, greeted him with a smile. "A fine evening today, isn't it, Balgair?"
"No. I feel like shit," the young man answered right before making his way into the staircase.
The woman said something from behind him, but he didn't care to listen and hopped up the stairs quickly before entering his room on the third floor. Straight after entering, Balgair lied down on the single low-quality, wooden bed with a mattress as comfortable as a hairy spider crawling on your opened eyes.
***
The next day, things seemed as usual, with Balgair up on the roofs of the Slums and his prey filling the streets. There was nothing special in sight for a long time, however.
Balgair was looking for a catch that would last him a few months, not a few days. What he needed was some rich idiot, confident enough to move with only a guard or two.
That's when a blonde woman dressed in a silver-colored dress showed herself. Alongside her, there was a young man dressed in a neat gray suit.
'Is he the guard?' Balgair thought, his eyes moving back and forth between the woman's handbag and the man beside her. 'Well, I really hope there's something in there,' he thought before standing up and covering the lower part of his face with a half-mask.
He then performed a series of setups and jumped down from the roof, landing right in front of the pair walking through the streets in broad daylight.
The man immediately pushed the woman back and performed a quick setup that led to him materializing a sword as he rushed towards Balgair.
Balgair wasn't surprised and pinched the tips of his thumbs and index fingers together before bringing them together and drawing them off of one another, revealing a kind of ethereal wire. He then wrapped the wire around the man's blade, trapping the only method of attack his incompetent, knightly ass was most likely capable of. The rest was easy, with him simply kicking the guard in the stomach, sending him flying into a crowd of shocked people before snatching the fine bag out of the woman's hand, giving her a wink in return.
Balgair then put his sense enhancement and reinforcement on mini supply and focused his essence usage on the enhancement of his muscles before jumping over the crowd that had formed around them and speeding out of sight.
He proceeded to coordinate through the maze that was the city's architecture. Surely the one who designed this shit had to be doing at least some type of narcotics. A hidden smile rested on Balgair's lips, and he passed through alleys and streets, the illumination varying on each leap.
His plan had worked smoothly. All he had to do now was make sure nobody could have followed him. Easy as...
A hand from behind grasped the bag in his hand as he was maneuvering through a narrow alley full of pipes, trash bags, and dumpsters.
He instinctively grasped the bag tighter, making his forward momentum disappear as he was yanked by the bag.
'How did the guard catch up?!' Balgair thought in shock as he amplified his mini supplies, balancing his essence usage.
Then a prickling sensation went through his body, followed by a cold sweat not long afterward.
"Let go of the bag. It's not yours," the young man in simple dark-brown clothing with golden hair and his hand on the bag said, his vibrant blue eyes the opposite of what would be called intimidating.
Balgair gritted his teeth after recovering from the initial shock. "What's it to you, Goldilocks?"
