“A bounty isn’t something you can just decide to take, not when you have something to lose.”

  -Heard by Green after the first mistake.

  Mark was gasping for breath. Running while holding two people was exhausting.

  Grace gave him water, putting a hand on his back. He smiled, nodding in thanks, and spotted Carrie looking back over where Green was.

  She didn’t look worried, who in their right mind would be worried about Green when his powers were being used? Mark shook his head, there was more to that boy than most.

  Oh, most people were complex. But not even Grace understood Green, and she was his sister.

  Mark shivered when he remembered the boy's stare. It had been over a month since the incident at the forge. But Mark felt like the nightmares were coming back. He had one last night actually.

  You’d think someone so much smaller than you wouldn’t be much of a threat, Mark thought.

  Mark flinched when Green dropped from the sky.

  “Green,” Grace said, “are all right?”

  Green just nodded, and dropped Mark’s backpack next to him. Mark didn’t show any discomfort outwardly, but an instinct inside him screamed. It was a good thing Green wore a blindfold, though Mark could still feel his eyes on him whenever he looked, It helped.

  Green moved past Grace to meet with Carrie. “I need your help.”

  Carrie looked stunned for a moment, but nodded and smiled. Green’s stomach twisted in disgust of Carrie’s beauty. She was a child, yet her facial features and the way she moved. So elegantly and full of pose, made Green want to hurl.

  “What do you need help with?” Carrie asked.

  “Have you ever felt a shift in your body?” Green asked, “like you feel lighter or less physical?”

  Carrie raised her eyebrow, “no, why?”

  Green shook his head, “the arts are becoming easier to control. It usually takes years to improve, but it’s only been a few months. Has something like that ever happened in Lindhael?”

  Carrie shook her head, “I don’t know that much about the arts. Maybe you can talk to some Elves in Orlar, I heard the dungeon city is the only one where humans and Elves can co-exist.”

  Green nodded, true, he thought, though the last time I was there, the Elves weren’t a big fan. Green shook his head. If he wanted answers he would have to talk straight to the source.

  “I shall defeat Juggernaut!” The man shouted to his companion, wearing a dramatic cape and sword at his side. “By Chreign's name, all shall be right again!”

  Green cringed as a large group of children, Carrie included, shouted with joy at the play. He hadn’t expected to be dragged into something so ridiculous only a few minutes after entering the city.

  Orlar was just as packed as he remembered. With people bustling this way and that, it seemed the city never rested. And it didn’t.

  Even late at night, fire lit lamps on the streets would give just enough light to keep the streets alive.

  Those very streets were packed with food stalls, weapon shops, pawn shops, book stores, and stages for the occasional play. Every once in a while Green would see a hunters guild or

  “I shall destroy thine evil!” The actor shouted, “Ahh!”

  The actor swung his blade at another actor wearing a red tusked monster costume. The “Juggernaut” fell after a minute or so of a fight scene with slow and dramatic movements from the “hero.”

  “Hear this, people of the grand dungeon city Orlar!” The actor shouted. “When the dungeon is fully explored, mankind will find the archangel Michael's blade, the archangel Raphael’s staff! And with those in our hands, there will be no reason to fear Juggernaut!”

  Green shook his head and waited for Carrie to be finished. Mark and Grace had gone on a date, claiming it had been too long since their last, and had left him to watch after Carrie.

  She walked up to him a moment later.

  “Did you see that!” Carrie said excitedly. “The hero was like: woosh! Slice! And bang! And Juggernaut fell like: Ahh!”

  She mimicked the dramatic movements from the play, then giggled with a wide grin.

  Green didn’t respond, in truth, he wasn’t sure how to. Of course she would be excited about some hero fairy tale, all children were. But it didn’t seem like the type of thing he should react to.

  Of course Michael's blade caught his interest in the past. He’d quickly discovered it to be the hopes of desperate men. Oh, Michael’s blade existed. It has been depicted in the holy Tanakh on multiple occasions.

  That didn’t mean mankind would wield it however.

  “Where should we go next?” Carrie asked with a glimmer in her eyes.

  Green wanted to say an inn, or the adventure’s guild. Somewhere he could either rest, or talk to some Elves. But he just sighed, then pointed farther ahead.

  “I see another play down this street,” he said. “Do you want to see it?”

  Carrie turned her head and went on her tippy toes to see anything past the large crowd. She squealed in excitement when she spotted what Green said and grabbed his hand to drag him in the direction.

  Green let himself be dragged. And though Carrie seemed determined, shoving through all these people with such a small frame was more difficult then she’d apparently thought.

  At some point she stopped and looked sharply back up to Green. Green raised an eyebrow.

  “Carry me,” she said.

  Green shrugged, then wrapped an arm around her legs, then hefted her on his shoulders to see the play. She shook for a moment, trying to balance, then started cheering for the actors.

  Green didn’t understand what children found so amusing about such plays. He’d always been taught that false stories produced delusional children. He’d been told of children who’d gone down a dark path because of the illusion of a perfect world their childhood had promised.

  He shook his head. He’d been raised to think rationally, and that rationality has saved his life on multiple occasions. Not to mention that the first time he really went out in the world, he’d seen what he’d expect.

  Green looked down, recalling the first time he’d met Death. To Green, Death was the only genuine person in the world. Perhaps in all of existence. He didn’t play favorites, he didn’t let some live and some die. He did his job with practiced precision, and didn’t let foolish emotion to cloud his judgment.

  If a child was supposed to die, they would die. If a murderer was supposed to live, he would live.

  Someone bumped into Green, causing him to nearly drop Carrie. Green glanced up at the man, who looked down at him, annoyed.

  “Watch it,” the man said, going on his way.

  Green let him go, there was no point in confrontation.

  “Hey you!” a voice shouted. “You bumped into us, say you’re sorry.”

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  Green looked up in surprise at Carrie looking annoyed at him.

  “What’d you say?” the man turned back, annoyed that someone would talk back.

  “Appoligise,” Carrie said, folding her arms, looked down at the man who was a whole head taller than Green himself.

  The man reached up, grabbed Carrie by the shirt. “Who in the void do you think you are?” the man said angrily.

  Green glared, pulled Carried down and grabbed the man's own shirt in turn. This got the man’s attention.

  “Flame off,” Green said, pushing the man.

  The push was harder than Green had intended. But old Kaisher instincts of throwing your weight into every strike was second nature.

  The man stumbled backward and fell into several people watching the play. Whether they were men or women, several guys broke apart from the group and glared at the man.

  The man didn’t notice them with his full attention on Green. He got off the other people and started making his way to Green. He grabbed Green’s shirt.

  “You have a death wish, boy!” the man shouted.

  Green flexed his fingers, getting himself ready for a fight. His heartbeat accelerated and his face and muscles tensed. Green was about to strike the man before he paused, then relaxed.

  “No,” Green said, “sorry for bumping into you.”

  The man looked at Green, confused. His fists were also clenched, ready for a fight. The two stood there for a moment, Green looking straight into the man’s chest, waiting for him to make a decision.

  Green wouldn’t start a fight, though he’d finish one, he wouldn’t start one. The man clicked his tongue, then pushed Green. Green let himself fall and watched the man stalked away.

  Green stood up, and dusted off his clothes. He noticed Carrie looking at him, befuddled.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I thought you’d fight him,” she replied.

  “I don’t fight when I don’t have to Carrie.” She didn’t reply. “Did you want me to fight him?”

  “N-no, I just, I didn’t think he’d be able to push you down.”

  Green shrugged and noticed other men glancing at him with confusion. Green ignored them. Most men would have fought that man for the sake of their pride. But pride was foolish.

  Green grabbed Carrie by the arm, and pulled her along with him. Wanting to use the moment as a distraction to get Carrie away from the play.

  They walked into an adventurer guild a few minutes later. Carrie was already scanning the artistry, pillars, and a large group of people wearing different types of armor.

  Some wore regular steel armor while others wore leather padding. Some had on blue scale like armor and a rare few looked to have red dragon scaled armor. There were only two of those, both either chantless or very rich.

  They showed off large teeth and crystal coral, riches found in the deeper parts of the dungeon. Of course those were rare, and most in the guild were trying to pawn off small bits of ore unique to the dungeon.

  Likely, the nearby pawnshops weren’t interested in their meager findings. Being an adventurer wasn’t as easy as people thought. Many thought they’d simply join a strong party, find gold, or some other rare material and come out a rich man.

  The truth was that many struggle to just stay a float. Those successful were the ones strong or skilled enough to fight larger monsters. Giant toads, lizards, a few werewolves, and even dragons were found in the monstrosity called the dungeon.

  Green spotted the group he was interested in. And made his way over with Carrie right behind him.

  The group was laughing with a banquet on the table before them. The group of Elves spoke about the thirtieth floor of the dungeon. How many dragons they killed. And the amount of money people would spend just to get one of them to join the team.

  With the art’s, Elves had a distinct advantage. Though only the most greedy, audacious, and rowdy Elves ever came to be an adventurer.

  Green grabbed a chair, turned it around, and sat on it the wrong way. He sat only a few feet from the group, trying to get their attention.

  Eventually they stopped as one after another, the group of seven Elves paused to look at Green.

  “Go on,” he said, as if he was an old friend of theirs.

  “Who are you?” one Elf finally asked.

  “The name’s Hate.” Green said, scratching the back of his pointed ear to accentuate them. “I’ve been thinking of becoming an adventurer, but I don’t know what I’m getting into. So I thought I should talk to people with obvious talent.”

  Green cringed slightly at his own words. He was lying of course. He was only interested in talking with Elves, and getting as far down in the dungeon as possible. At least until the Paipite council gives up on him.

  The Elves at the table all looked to the one Green assumed to be the ring leader. He was large. Smaller than Mark, but close.

  He inspected Green, and seemed impressed by his build, though he frowned when he glanced at Carrie.

  “Who’s the girl?” the leader asked, his voice deep and condescending.

  “My daughter, Joy,” Green answered.

  The leader raised an eyebrow, then grinned. “How about this; if you can beat me in hand to hand, no arts, I’ll let you in.”

  Green nodded, “when and where?”

  The leader’s grin widened as he put both feet against the table. The other Elves immediately took their plates off the table as their leader kicked off the table. His chair hit into the wall a foot away, but the table jerked directly for Green.

  Green jumped back, putting an arm in front of Carrie while metal plates and food splattered on the ground. Silence followed as everyone in the guild stared.

  Green couldn’t contemplate this however, when the large Elf sprinted in his direction and swung a massive forearm.

  He squatted and palmed the forearm upwards, deflecting the strike and spinning behind the Elven leader. This didn’t seem to shock the Elf as it jabbed a fist twice then turned to an uppercut to Green’s gut.

  Green deflected the jabs then put his hands together to catch the fist. He immediately dropped his weight, dodging another right hook and wrapped his legs around the Elf’s neck.

  Something Mark had shown him.

  He used the Elf’s arm as support, but to the Elf’s credit; he stayed up. He raised his fist as if to bring it down like a hammer. So Green dropped his upper body, bending his back to put his hands to the ground.

  The Elf swung at nothing and Green landed only to try to grab the Elf’s legs. This was an Elf however, and he backed away. This left Green with one arm on the ground, looking through his blindfold definitely.

  The leader smiled, “my name is Nun, what is yours?” He asked.

  Green didn’t react to the fact he hadn’t listened when he’d introduced himself before. But he was curious as to what his name meant. Elve’s always seemed to need a name that meant something.

  “Hate,” Green said.

  “Hate, huh?” he got in a fighting stance. “I’ll remember that.”

  He pounced again, Green ducked his swing and palmed the elbow that followed up. Another fist came in so Green reflected it and dove out of the large Elf's way.

  Green’s roll finished with him facing Nun with one knee on the floor. Trying to get in a wrestling match? Green thought. Getting Green in a shock hold, or any sort of hold would mean an instant defeat.

  So Green tensed his muscles, and sprinted. Nun was slightly taken aback by someone so much smaller than him going on the offensive, but the grin on his face told Green all he needed to know.

  Nun tried to bear hug Green, but was knocked back when Green's palmed, and full weight slammed against his gut. A hundred and seventy pounds of force to the stomach wasn't something anyone, even an Elf could shrug off easily.

  Green didn't want to let up as he smacked the man's ear with a high kick. Then spun to back kick his chest.

  Nun fumbled back, but stayed on his feet. How? Green questioned.

  Without the arts Elves were essentially very athletic humans. There was no logic that Green could use to explain how still stood.

  Slightly frustrated, Green attacked again. He was met with an Elf clearly costumed to fist fighting. It was the brutish kind, the kind of technique a survivor developed.

  It was more difficult then Green would like to admit, without trained and refined techniques, his moves were annoyingly unpredictable.

  Eventually however, Green managed to deliver a high kick to Nun's head, getting his ear. This at least knocked him down

  Green stood above Nun, who wasn't moving. Something grabbed his leg and yanked himself back. Green fell on his back and looked up to see Nun with a huge grin plastered on his slightly bruised face.

  “Suppose I won,” Nun said.

  Anger flared, so Green used his foot to rip his other out of Nun's hand. He kicked back onto his hands, and landed on his feet.

  “You cheated!” Green exclaimed. “I had you down.”

  It had been a trick, and an underhanded one at that.

  “I fell down of my own accord, you didn’t.” Nun said. “So I won.”

  “Rematch!” Green demanded.

  “No can do.” Nun replied, turning away “We’re heading into the dungeon tomorrow, and can't have a newbie slowing us down anyway.”

  Green paused, “then take me down as a favor from one Elf to another.”

  Nun snorted, then looked back. “This is the dungeon we're talking about. Normal rules don't apply.”

  With that, they walked away. Normally Elves did what they could to support one another. As far as Green knew, the Elven cities didn't even use currency.

  So he had thought…

  “Are you alright?” Carrie asked, kneeling next to him.

  “I'm fine,” He said, standing up.

  He watched the Elves walk out the door, feeling strange.

  “Let's go,” Green said begrudgingly. “Mark and Grace are likely finished with their date.”

  Carrie didn't respond, just silently followed him out the door.