They say you can't remember smells. Or is it recall them? Either way, that's a lie. I remember the smell of the bar. I remember the smell of my first fight. How is that?
"You deaf or something? Leave, kid."
"..o"
The man leaned in with his hand cupped around his ear.
"Huh? Speak up."
"No!"
Sarcastic 'ooohs' murmured throughout the crowd as some of the audience chuckled.
Milo's face felt hot, and everything outside of his body felt disconnected. His breathing began to labor.
".. too young..... me..... fight?"
The man rambled on about respect and experience. Milo didn't hear any of it. Words felt distant and muffled. His vision turned spotty. Between his pants and skin, he could feel where the blade pressed against his body from the pressure of the waistband.
What is this?
His stomach lacked its usual butterflies. An itch crawled across his knuckles that only violence could scratch.
I'm... excited.
The man slapped Milo in the face.
He snapped out of his trance.
The warmth in his face turned into an isolated, cold sting, and his fingers graced the spot where he'd been hit. He began to smile, but stopped himself short of any reaction.
Shit. No emotion. Remember.
The man turned to one of his buddies and scoffed.
"This kid can't be serious."
He turned back and snapped at Milo.
"Think I'm some joke, huh?"
The man looked to his left and nodded to someone behind. One of the customers stood from their table and walked over to the door.
*Click*
The first lock snapped shut.
*Fwhsst*
The second slid in front of the door, adding an extra layer of security for the audience to enjoy the fight freely.
Below the table, Jackson's hand bled. Fingernails were embedded in his palm as his hands shook. His knee tapping began to shake the table. Elias' glare made him calm down, but he continued to watch the interaction closely from the bar mirror.
Everyone around grew anxious, eager to witness such a beating.
Milo analyzed his opponent.
Muscular. About Ralph's size. Slapped me with his right hand.
Without thinking, Milo raised his guard. What was once nauseating to think about had become instinct.
The man's lips tightened as he mumbled something to himself in a foreign language. He shook his head and sighed. He walked toward Milo, leisurely, with his hands swaying in sync with his stride.
Boots thudded with each step. The man wore layers of colorful clothing, some of it resembling thin armor. Scars covered his hands. Only the creak in the floorboards dared to interrupt the sound of his steps.
Without warning, Milo's head snapped back.
Huh? The ceiling?
Blood sprayed from Milo's nose.
Quickly, he looked back at his opponent while dashing back.
He's fast... but...
Milo's table seemed to tense up from the hit. A strange bloodlust leaked from the expressionless men who accompanied the boy into the bar.
Blood continued to drip from Milo's nose as he stared at his opponent. With each muscle twitch, the pace in his stepping, and how he liked to fight, Milo started seeing it all more clearly.
The splotches in his vision began to clear, and his mind seemed to calm completely. Elias watched as Milo tightened his guard. The faint tilt of his lips said enough.
'Good.'
Milo kept his back to the door and refused to step any closer. Luckily, the man did all of the work for him.
Boots thudded, hands swayed, and his guard was dropped. Subtle, but there. A slight twitch in his finger before he punched.
Dodge.
Milo felt his knee catch his weight as his foot twisted and dropped closer to the floor. A swift counter-hook barreled into the man's side.
As much as Jackson wanted to hide it, he couldn't help but show his surprise. The little rat of the slums just copied his move.
Maybe it wasn't perfect, and maybe he wasn't as fast or strong as Jackson, but something about his punch felt different. Quickly enough, the man confirmed his suspicion.
"Heugh!"
The man was knocked back as he let out a deep groan and curled to the side where he had been hit. It took less than a second for him to regain composure, but his face still showed confusion at what just happened.
Suddenly, it clicked.
"You little shit. You just hit me? You think you can hit me?"
No longer walking, but dashing towards Milo, the man pulled a long blade from his pants side and thrust it forward.
Shit, he's trying to kill me!?
The blade bit into Milo's chest, but not deeply. The scratch was surface-level as Milo looked up to see Elias stopping the man's arm.
"That's enough. He's proved himself."
Shivers crawled down the man's spine as he jerked his arm away.
"Shit, man, I- I know I was just... scaring him a bit."
A dirty look shot Milo's way before the man sat down. No one cheered or congratulated him for landing a hit. Everyone continued on like this was routine—a checkup on the new guy.
"Sorry about that, Milo," Jackson said as Milo seated himself at the round table.
"Yeah, man, sorry. It's kind of just a thing you have to go through at bars like this," Flio continued.
Ralph scoffed.
"Don't get used to getting saved like that every time, sometimes you're gonna have to-"
"That's besides the point," Elias interrupted, "Now, let's continue."
"There's a man by the name of Reginald Rowland. He's our target. He lives on..."
Details were hashed out quickly as Milo listened, memorizing everything that mattered.
It was supposed to be a simple mission. Unfortunately, the mimic derailed their operations slightly. Milo found out they were already there a day longer than they needed to be, but it shouldn't take long to finish the mission.
That much time passed in the dungeon?
Their target, Reggie Rowland, led normal operations as an alchemist during the day, but produced and sold strange strands of blue crystal around the city at night. The drug began interfering with Krovlizt's potion supply, as some of the drug had contaminated a shipment.
Five people were killed, all nobles.
"Wait, so how do we know this guy does it?" Milo asked.
"We just do," Elias snapped, "You stay in the back and keep a lookout. Watch for anyone outside while we finish the job, understand."
Milo nodded.
A couple of the men looked at Elias, but a simple gesture silenced their concerns.
The men quieted as someone walked over. Glasses of beer clinked as they were set on the table.
"This one's for you, sweety," a lady said to Milo as she set down a glass of water.
The waitress excused herself as she smiled at the men and shot a quick wink at the boy. His face turned bright red as he shot his gaze to the floor.
Flio's cheeks filled with air as he strained every ounce of muscle in his face to stop from laughing. Some of the men snickered at his reaction, and as soon as the waitress was out of range, they all burst with laughter—even Elias.
"Sh- Shut up!"
One by one, they exited the tavern. Up in the sky, a bright red moon shone down on them as they made their way through the empty streets.
With everyone gone, Milo could better see the difference in architecture.
There were no towers in this kingdom's capital other than the occasional academic spires. Buildings stacked on top of buildings—sometimes resembling Krovlizt towers, but were typically smaller.
They were strung together by bridges or ropes, clotheslines or decorations. Each building was different from the ones above, below, or beside. Some had greenery, others had water features, and some even had designs of their Gods engraved in the walls.
They approached a medium-sized stack of buildings. From the description Elias had given, the target lived in a building wedged in the middle.
All of them climbed the walls efficiently, using the proximity of the other buildings and ropes to ascend swiftly.
Until it was Milo's turn.
Before he could take a step off the ground, Elias shook his head.
Here?!
Elias nodded and turned away.
They don't even trust me to tag along.
The thought made Milo frown, but he continued to watch the street as instructed. Soon, the group descended quietly behind him and walked out onto the street.
"How did it go?" Milo whispered to Flio.
"Good," he whispered back, "the guy didn't even make a sound-"
*Boom*
An explosion came from above as glass fragments and debris fell to the street.
Blue slime poured from the cracks as a strange monster dragged itself from the laboratory.
As it crept out of the window, the sheer size became apparent. The entire building could hardly contain it as its weight began to destabilize the rest of the buildings in the stack.
The men looked on in horror.
"What the fuck..." Conrad mumbled.
All of a sudden, the monster escaped its cage and began falling to the street. Everyone dashed away but Milo. He stared on in horror as the massive beast came hurdling at him with fatal speed.
"Milo! Move!" Jackson screamed.
But it was too late.