"Hey, Fraden, get behind me instead. Lucian is gonna fight those Bluebloods now," Roderic reasoned as Lucian nodded, giving Fraden a gentle push towards Roderic.
"F-fine, I'll do that," Fraden stuttered, still slightly afraid of Roderic. He walked near him, but not too up close.
Lucian gave Roderic a smug smile before continuing along the bloodstained corridor, whistling as he moved, revealing his location to the Bluebloods.
As Lucian walked slowly through the corridor, he saw a stone staircase with around eight to ten men speeding down it, Lucian not fully caring about counting accurately.
"Brothers! We must kill that damned pest!!" one of them screamed, the others nodding. They moved in an arrow-like formation. The man in front attempted to run Lucian through with his blade. Lucian, already prepared in a stance, moved smoothly like water as he slid his sword around the man's blade, turning his own thrust into a proper slash, slicing the man's head clean off.
The others, seeing the scene play out, felt fear almost consume them, but the knowledge that their other brothers were there made them feel confident enough to continue their assault. The arrow-like form quickly turned into a circle as all slashed from different angles, completely surrounding Lucian.
Lucian, not fully prepared for a few criminals to follow a formation, saw his life flash as he blocked the man to his right's attack. At the same time, he rammed himself into the same man, pushing him over as one of the men's blades grazed Lucian's neck, luckily not hitting anything vital.
"Ha, I hit him!" shouted the man who grazed Lucian. Lucian didn't react as he quickly used his left hand, grabbing hold of his own blade's edge and using the blade to slice the knocked over man's throat, not properly having time to fully finish him off, letting him instead die slowly. This irritated Lucian, but the situation was getting a little too serious for him to care, as he turned around, rolling to the side to avoid one of the men's attack.
While rolling, in the left side of his eye, he saw Roderic with a smug smile, near the exit of the corridor. A quick thought arose in Lucian's mind: "He really meant it when he said he would only help when needed. I think this is a perfect time to help, you scumbag!" Lucian's expression was one of disdain as Roderic's smile widened.
Lucian rolled once more as he managed to get up on his legs again, now in a more defensive stance than when he started.
He took a few small steps forward, not letting the men form a formation once again, blocking two of the men's attacks at once and quickly parrying them away as he sliced their stomachs open. As Lucian's blood flow spiked, his thoughts slowly disappeared, not letting him properly think, instinct overwhelming him.
The brothers' bladework started dipping as they felt almost like they were facing a blood-hungry demon. "Begone, you damned monster!" one of the men screamed as he slashed downwards, not properly keeping his guard up.
Lucian used the opening to slice off both of the man's legs at once, going straight through the tough bone of the thighs.
Agonized screams erupted around Lucian as he quickly came back to reality, realizing that he had gone fully off his own principle, one of his golden rules of combat. But again, his sword style was too precise and needed him to be way stronger than his opponents.
Lucian started to have a crisis as he realized that another of the men ran towards him, tears streaming down his face. Lucian blocked his blade and went for the man's neck when suddenly another attacker's sword crashed into his own, deflecting his strike, pushing it slightly downwards as Lucian's blade sliced right through the crying man's chest, not going deep enough to cause proper vital damage but still enough to cause bleeding that would kill him. Lucian tried to finish him off, but the man whose sword had deflected his strike swung again, forcing Lucian to block him instead.
The man who got sliced in the chest tipped over onto the ground, his shrieks of pain joining the other chorus of wails, now completely breaking Lucian.
He glanced towards Roderic, seeing him smile from ear to ear, as Fraden looked on in horror. Roderic was completely enjoying the view, as seeing a man's virtue cracking in real time was a delight for him. He always thought of Lucian's morals as hypocritical, as for Roderic, killing was killing no matter how it was done.
"Bastard!" Lucian screamed towards Roderic as Lucian's fury grew, kicking the man in the groin before slicing his head off. Now there were only two left. One of the men pissed his clothes, as the other sweated profusely. They charged towards Lucian before quickly turning, one jumping out the window, the other quickly joining too.
Roderic laughed as Lucian looked in shock, not realizing they would just escape. Suddenly the loud noise of ice crackling was heard as Lucian ran over to the window, seeing both their heads completely popped. In the heads' stead were two giant spiked ice balls clinging onto the flesh of their necks.
Roderic calmly replied, "Don't worry, they weren't gonna escape me." Lucian looked in anger towards Roderic, quickly going around cutting off the heads of the men who were still clinging onto life. The chorus of screaming slowly trickled down. Lucian walked angrily towards Roderic, trying to grab his coat's fur, not managing to do so as his ice armor was in the way. "Damned ice!" Lucian cursed as he quickly realized that he couldn't hit Roderic, so instead he shouted at him, "You said you would help me when I was in need of help, right!? So why didn't you when you saw I was going off principle!!?"
Roderic looked at Lucian with a condescending expression before saying, "Well, you didn't die, right? So no problem then?"
Lucian felt himself at a loss for words as he quickly realized that Roderic was completely deranged, as he felt talking it over with him would be as useless as last time.
Fraden felt himself drifting away, his mind blank.
Lucian quickly noticed the boy's expression, as Fraden's face was covered in sweat. "Hey, Fraden, sorry for being so out of control. I didn't mean to... This is a first for me as well..." Fraden shook as he nodded, returning to how he was before encountering the two of them.
Lucian up to now was the only good he had experienced through what he could remember throughout his whole life. Now the man he thought of as the first truly good person looked more like a demon, blood covering Lucian's entire body, his clothes soaked.
Lucian sighed. Suddenly a knight and a few guards ran through the door, seeing a strangely patterned fur-coated man, a sickly looking child, and a bloody half-armored man with a kettle helmet on. "What in the hell happened here!?" the knight in front asked, his visor up showing his well-groomed mustache.
"We killed some of those Bluebloods. You know, those criminals?" Roderic quickly replied, as Lucian was still a little out of it.
Behind his back, Roderic waved his left hand as the ice outside immediately melted, removing the evidence of his abilities being used, as to avoid being called a warlock.
"Well, from their outfits I can see they are Bluebloods, but I didn't fully expect one of their bases to be here..." He nodded to himself before pointing towards the blood-soaked man. "Are you the one who dispatched these vermin?" He announced loudly, snapping Lucian out of his semi-lucid state.
"Yes, I killed them with my own bare hands," Lucian replied back, as he knew he wouldn't be getting out of it by lying.
"I'm impressed. You must be quite the strong man. It's an insane feat to take out these many by yourself. Are you a renowned mercenary perhaps? Are you one of our special hires?" the knight questioned, seeming to be interested in the man's strength.
"No, I'm doing it out of my own volition. I'm no mercenary," Lucian answered truthfully.
"Well, if you aren't, we don't mind hiring you. We pay four hundred for each brother you kill. And if you can manage to kill off their leader, we will give you twenty thousand Rin. Does it sound reasonable?" the knight asked. Lucian nodded as he said, "Yes, that sounds quite fair. I was planning on killing them anyways. Why not get something worthwhile out of it at the same time?"
Suddenly Roderic intervened in the conversation. "Well, could I perhaps join in on this mercenary thing as well? Now that there is something that comes out of it, I don't mind killing a few of those losers," Roderic asked, money almost visible in his eyes.
"Of course. Those damned Bluebloods have been pestering us for as long as I can remember, so the more help there is, the better," the knight answered, his smile apparent. "Anyways, we can't have you going around like that. You are covered in blood from head to toe. We will follow you to a bathhouse to get cleansed... Remember to have some extra pair of clothes when killing them, as to avoid being covered in blood like now..." the knight said. Lucian nodded as he followed them, Roderic and Fraden following closely behind, many of the guards staying behind to search through the place.
The knight seemed to be pondering for a moment before asking, "Hmm, I wonder what could have happened to that door? It was in two pieces and fully snapped off the hinges... What could possibly have done that?"
Roderic, hearing the question, answered, "It was like that before we came. I think the Bluebloods must have done something."
"Well, perhaps their leader was there. He seems to have done a contract with a devil of sorts. He's the entire reason those damned Bluebloods grew to this size and became such trouble!" the knight cursed.
Lucian stared blankly at him before replying, "Oh, like a monster?"
The knight looked towards him as they walked. "Yes, at least that's what I've heard. I've never seen him myself, but they say his skin is made of black slime, his face covered by a mask of red and white, being able to cast magic. A true monster indeed." The knight sighed.
Roderic's face was immediately covered in sweat as he realized that their leader was no laughing matter. To Roderic, that sounded eerily similar to a mage close to their rend descending, when suddenly the knight asked, "Anyways, now for an introduction. What are your names?" The knight wanted a proper introduction with the new mercenary hires, as the mercenary guild wasn't really interfering with the hires of mercenaries anymore, at least in Waterbridge.
Lucian answered first, as Roderic was still distraught, feeling the new job might not be worth it after all.
"My name is Lucian. I'm an adventurer who travels the world," Lucian said, smiling towards the knight. The knight smiled back. "No, you are a Solarin knight. Don't lie to me. You don't think we recognized the armor at the front gate?" the knight said, unraveling his secret. "Well, sorry. I'm no knight anymore. I've decided to break that pact, so just call me an adventurer." Lucian's face was now covered in sweat.
Roderic quickly thought back, realizing that Lucian's sun crest was still on his armor. Even though Lucian wasn't wearing that piece, he still went through the inspection of the gate without removing that part.
"Well, we need all the help we can get. I don't mind not spreading the news as long as you help as mercenaries, but if not, I will sadly have to report it," the knight said, his smile through the visor turning into a sinister grin.
"Fine, fine..." Lucian replied in a mumbled voice, the sticky, smelly blood now getting to him.
Lucian noticed a bathhouse up ahead. "We're here. This is Bella's bathhouse, a close friend I have," the knight said, looking towards Roderic. "So what's your name?"
"My name is Roderic. I was the one who got this defeated knight to follow me as an adventurer, as I myself am a proper adventurer," Roderic grinned with confidence. The thought of the leader now lurked in the back of his mind.
"Well, that's a nice name, Roderic. How about the young boy then?" the knight said, looking downwards to Fraden.
"My name is Fraden. I'm the one who got these two to help me... I'm just some peasant from the slums..." the boy mumbled.
"That's a nice name as well, Fraden. My name is Garfield, a knight in Waterbridge." His sinister grin was now gone, now back to a warm smile.
They walked into the bathhouse, as they saw a middle-aged lady running around the desk, seeming to be in a hurry. The smell of warm water radiated through the air as the smell of the bakery beside the bathhouse mixed the smell of bread in as well.
"Nice day, Bella. Could you give this man his own bathtub to clear off the blood?" Garfield said, smiling towards the ruffled brown-haired lady.
"Nice evening, Garfield..." Bella quickly noticed the bloody man beside him. "What happened to him?" Bella looked towards him with concern.
"Don't worry, he just killed a few Bluebloods," Garfield laughed.
"Oh, okay, no issue then. Killing those bastards should be celebrated. I'll prepare a bath for him right away, and don't worry, I'll give you a discount for your service!" she offered, moving her glasses a little more up into a more comfortable position, as she got one of her servants to prepare a personal bathtub for Lucian alone. Roderic and Fraden just looked towards them, not really knowing what they would do in the meantime.
Once the bathtub was done, he took off his clothes and went in, one of the servants getting his clothes and armor to be cleaned. The blood now slightly hardened to his skin started slowly dissipating as he continuously rubbed himself with a piece of cloth, the warm water soothing Lucian.
Lucian stared into the now bloody water, seeing his own reflection, wondering what went wrong. He lost his best friend, his retainer, and is now in a party with a careless but semi-evil mage, and now had totally stripped himself of what he called his own self, his dignity now entirely gone.
He started wondering if, after he had helped Garfield, maybe he should leave Roderic to pursue a life devoid of fighting and perhaps live a life away from all his troubles, married to a hardworking country wife.
Thoughts boiled through Lucian's head as the blood was now entirely gone from his body. He walked into the changing room where he saw on a piece of paper, "We bought you clothes! Meet us back at Patrick's Favourite," a smiley face plastered on the side of the message.
Lucian was now entirely debating if the choice of leaving the two-man party was the right idea. Perhaps he could talk it out...
In the end, he decided he would think it over with some locally brewed beer in one of the alehouses nearby, letting him have a moment for himself since his last party died.