“So,” Nally sighed while stirring her hot chocolate. “You want to explain what happened to your face now?”
The boy looked up, his mouth filled with food that he quickly gulped down. “Can’t I enjoy my food in peace?”
“Not when you look like that!” she wailed. “What happened?”
Hitto was a complete mess when he came back last night. His clothes had been tattered, his axe broken, and his face busted in. Then there were also all the bruises and cuts that were littering his torso. Had he fought with a bear? She wondered.
“Whatever,” she sighed. “You were the one who told me we should grow to trust each other. I thought this was one of those moments we could share together.”
“I didn’t say that,” he grumbled. “I said I’ll see if you’ll earn my trust.”
“And I haven’t yet?” she wined. “I brought you here in one piece.”
“Here isn’t the Warrior Examination,” he protested.
“Fine, whatever,” she frowned. “Just eat your food, and let's get ready to check the merchant shops.”
Despite the cheery atmosphere within the tavern, silence befell the two of them as they continued to eat. Hitto watched on as Nally poked at her scones instead of eating them. She was just barely drinking her cocoa as well.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” she pouted.
“Fine, I’ll tell you,” He sighed. “It's not even that big of a deal. I just challenged two guys to a fight and lost.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“Cuz it's embarrassing,” he frowned.
A smug smile graced the girl's lips as she patted the table like a drunk. “There, there! Better luck next time.”
“Shut up!” he shot with furrowed brows. “Anyways, I have a question, and I think you’ll know the answer.”
Nally sat upright. “What is it?”
“Warrior Examination Candidates. What are they? And could you tell me more about the Association as well?”
Her eyes lit as she downed her hot cocoa and wiped the froth from her lips. “Of course! Candidates are just people who are getting in through family recommendations. They’ve already been chosen to join the Association, but to avoid backlash, they take part to prove their skills. It's basically nepotism.”
“Nepotism?” he questioned.
“Do you not know what that is?”
He nodded his head in response.
“Whatever,” Nally smiled. “You got the gist of what I said, right? They basically get in by cheating. As for the Association as a whole, it's pretty much the loose governing body of the western and central regions of Mundus. I don’t really know how it works, only that its main body is comprised of eight guilds and a few important affiliates. For people like us, joining is the best way to make money or earn prestige.”
“I see,” he contemplated while pouring more syrup on his eggs. “Well, at the end of the day, all that matters is getting to fight more people.”
“Glad to see you’re still confident despite losing in your first fight.”
“It was a two-verse one!” he frowned.
“Sure, sure!” Nally laughed. “Hurry and finish eating so we can check out the shops!”
A fair-skinned man in a black tuxedo stood outside the Association's head office. His hair was a unique shade of grey despite his young age, and his eyes were a sight to marvel at. Two pitch-black holes void of any emotion or pupils.
He held a stack of papers in his hands that he was quickly organizing. Occasionally, he lost where he was amongst the many sheets and muttered curse words. Then, he heard footsteps approaching from down the hall, which only quickened his pace.
“Well, would you look at that,” the owner of the feet said. “Late again, huh, Snowl? Why do you even bother if you’re never gonna get it in on time!”
“My bad,” he replied in a monotone voice.
The person berating him – Dr. Scale, was a small older man with round spectacles and a long white beard akin to that of a grand wizard. He wore an all-black robe and carried what looked like a textbook in his hand.
“To this day, I still don’t understand why you were promoted. Ozo must have completely lost his mind!”
After an odd minute or two of silence, Snowl opened his mouth. “Same.”
“Again, with this,” the doctor hissed. “Move out of the way. I need to speak with Ozo.”
He pushed past the suited man and opened the doors to the office. Inside was an unkept room filled with papers and documents scattered all throughout. What made matters worse was the fact that the head of the Association – Ozo, was not present at his seat. Instead, there was a used pair of boxers hanging on his office chair.
“Ah!” Snowl exclaimed in a robotic manner. “Those are mine.”
“Yours!?” The doctor raged, gnashing his teeth. “How did they end up in there!?”
“Laundry,” he replied.
Scale pulled at his beard. “Go get it this instant! What if we had visitors, and they saw the state of this place!?”
Snowl dropped the documents onto the ground, and the doctor’s mouth gaped open. “WHAT!?” Scale yelled. “Why did you drop the test papers!”
“To get the undergarments,” he replied.
“No! you don’t have to drop the papers to get them! You’re just supposed to give it to me!”
After a long pause, Snowl opened his mouth. “Whoops.”
He then walked into the office very slowly and picked up his underwear. Holding it in the air, he examined it carefully before bringing it in for a sniff. After a long whiff, he pulled it away from his still stoic face and nodded his head. “Yes,” he confirmed. “This is mine.”
“That doesn’t matter!” the doctor wined. “Just take it out of the room, and I’ll worry about this.”
“Shoot,” Snowl responded. “I’ll help.”
He exited the office and dropped the boxers onto the ground before getting on his knees to pick up the papers. In response, Dr. Scale followed suit and snatched the papers he had collected from his hands. “I’ll do it! Just pick up the underwear and go!”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can!”
“What are you two doing?” Laughed a voice from behind. “Some kind of exercise?”
Dr. Scale quickly jerked his head around to see the new arrival. It was Ozo – head of the Warrior’s Association. A balding middle-aged man of average height and build, he wore black chainmail and had on a light blue steel vest adorned with the Association's white eagle crest. He had a cheery expression on his bearded face.
“It’s not what you think,” Dr. Scale frowned. “I’m just cleaning up the mess your new head knight made.”
“Oi, Oi!” the bald man snapped. “Don’t go blaming Snowl for your mistakes, Ferron!”
“It’s Dr. Scale!” he hissed again. “You should show respect to the Guild Masters, especially me!”
Ozo waved at him in a dismissive manner. “Right, right,” he chuckled. “Is everything ready for the exam? I’m looking forward to watching it again after so long.”
“Yes,” Dr. Scale grumbled as he stood up, dusting his robes. “We were pressed for time, but I think we will just barely be able to pull it off.”
“Great!” Ozo cheered. “Why don’t we go get some beers to celebrate? Isaac was telling me about a great tavern down on Bay Street.”
“Bay Street!?” The doctor gaped. “That’s the red-light district, Ozo! You can’t be seen there!”
“Don’t worry about it!” he smiled. “Snowl, you coming?”
“Yes,” he replied discreetly, once again dropping the papers he had picked up.
“Snowl!” Scale seethed. “And you too, Ozo! We have duties that must be taken care of before you guys can head out!”
“But you said everything was ready,” Ozo shrugged. “Come now, Snowl. The day waits for no man!”
The two took off down the hall and turned a corner, leaving the red-faced Dr. Scale to pick up all the papers and clean up the head office. “The things I do for this place,” he sighed.
The sun hung low in the sky as darkness began to envelop the green fields. Hitto was busy quickly assembling the tent they had purchased earlier in the day, with Nally hollering instructions at him. After around an hour, they finished the whole ordeal.
“Finally!” Nally beamed as she collapsed into her sleeping bag. She kicked around a bit as she pulled the sheets onto herself. “Personal space, no smells, and most importantly, an actual bed!”
“Yup,” Hitto smiled as he set up his own little corner. “And we are finally almost there, just two days.”
Nally watched as he unpacked his things in a peculiar way. “You sure you didn’t want to buy a new axe? You’ll need a weapon after the exams.”
“I’ll get those guys to buy me one,” he frowned. “Beating me is one thing, but destroying my things is another.”
“Hmmm?” Nally mused as she tilted her head. “Thinking of getting revenge?”
“Nah,” Hitto chuckled. “Retribution!”
She let out a soft laugh. “I think those are the same thing.”
“Whatever!” he said, covering himself with the sleeping bag. “I have some more questions.”
“What?” Nally asked.
“Who is the strongest person I can fight?”
“Hmmm,” Nally thought. “Probably humanity's strongest, Ozo. He's the head of the Warriors Association and ranked third on Vizod’s list of the strongest.”
“Vizod’s list?” he questioned. “What’s that?”
Just then, they heard intense rustling from outside as a light was shined onto their tent. Instantly, Hitto charged outside of the sleeping bag, where he was greeted by three men who were all armed with swords.
The one in the middle instantly brandished his weapon and pointed it at the boy. “Where’s that bitch?” He yelled. “That damn scammer!”
“Who are you calling a bitch?” Nally frowned while peaking through the flaps of the tent. “And what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to collect what you owe me!” he scowled. “You said you’d let me sleep with you if I gave up my spot in the stable! Pay up bitch!”
So, it’s that guy, Hitto frowned. I was wondering why he accepted so little at the time.
The boy clenched his fists and instantly dashed towards his three adversaries. Hitto’s movements were swift and unpredictable as he closed down the distance. With a burst of energy, he dodged the swing of the man in the middle and delivered a strong punch to his chest. The man went flying backwards into a dirt ditch as the other two unsheathed their swords. They charged at Hitto together, who nimbly drifted out of their blade’s paths.
Nally, seizing the opportunity, dashed into the open and quickly located a stray branch to use as a makeshift weapon. “You think you can creep up on us and get away with it?” she yelled
Caught off guard by the sudden announcement, one of the men could not react to the kick in the balls he just received from Hitto. Gasping for air, he instantly clutched the nether region and fell to the ground.
“How do you like that?” Hitto smirked as his crimson eyes flickered wildness. “Not what you expected, but still pleasurable, I bet.”
“Fuck you, kid!” the last one yelled, swinging blindly. Hitto easily dodged the flurry with room to spare. Slightly surprised, the man stopped in his tracks. “How is this possible? How can you take all three of us?”
“I don’t know,” the boy smiled. “I’m just as surprised.” He then drove a fist into the man's stomach, who gasped for air before following up with another to his head. His foe collapsed to the ground immediately. “All done!” he cheered.
“Not yet!” Nally shouted. “Behind you!”
Instinctively, Hitto shifted his body to the right and dodged a heavy swing from the man he had punched earlier. “You can still fight?” the boy questioned. “I had hit you with everything I got.”
“Shut up!” the man responded. “And tell that stupid girl of yours to deliver on her promise!”
“No,” Hitto smiled. “A horny old guy like you has no right to demand anything.”
Enraged, he charged at the boy with his blade pointed towards him. Instead of dodging this time, Hitto caught the blade in his hands with a monstrous grin plastered onto his face. With inhumane strength, he took control of the weight of the blade and raised it with his opponent still holding it. Now dangling in the air, the man looked at his opponent in fear. “No way,” he yelled as he was smashed straight into the earth, with dust erupting from the impact.
Nally dropped the stick and instantly ran over to Hitto. “Great job!” she beamed with a thumbs up. “Let’s tie these guys up and get you cleaned up!”
“Sure,” Hitto chuckled as he observed the blood seeping from his cut hands. “Were you planning on helping me with that stick?”
“I did!” she smiled. “I got their attention away from you for a second!”
“True,” he laughed. “Alright, let's get to work.”
