68 CHPT 68: This could be Fate!

Claude jogged down the dirt road with Frosty— camouflaged, beside him. In his all black clothing he was able to blow past the odd carriage or two without drawing any attention to himself.

It stayed this way for miles, him and Frosty silently running under the shadow of night without tiring. In fact, it felt relieving to be running with him.

Soon enough, he saw the large gates that led into the city of SkyHaven. Seeing the armored guards that sat in front of the gate reminded him that he was sprinting straight at them off the side of the dirt road in complete darkness.

He quickly slowed down to a brisk walk and stepped onto the uneven dirt road so they'd see him coming.

"Hello sir, what brings you to the gates of SkyHaven at such a time?" One of the taller guards asked as Claude approached.

"Stay quiet and don't leave my side, alright?" Claude whispered to Frosty.

He suddenly felt fur and muscle brush up against his side which told him Frosty understood.

"Erhm.....I'm here for a Night Run, sir." Claude said in a deeper voice, trying to sound more adult like.

The guards shifted around in their positions but said nothing. It seems Arne was right about the bad reputation around Night Runs, they reacted as if he just said he was about to kill himself.

"Well.....best of luck." The guard said in a rush as he beckoned to the other guards to open the gate.

"Thanks." Claude said before stepping into the city of SkyHaven.

The last time he was in SkyHaven at night, he couldn't stop and take in the drastic change in the atmosphere. The city was still lit and bustling with activity from merchants on the side of roads and other salespeople, but the people were different.

He noticed as he headed down the cobblestone street that everyone was in dark clothing and looked intimidating to at least some degree, some even looked downright suspicious as they lurked in alleyways between shops and buildings.

Once he neared the SkyLight Guildhall, the environment became less creepy and more like what he was used to.

"[Just stay calm and you'll be fine.]" Arne said while Claude stood and stared at the Guildhall. He could smell the different armors, leathers, individual scents and body odors of the Heroes inside. The place wasn't empty by any means to his surprise.

"Alright Frosty, let's head inside."

Claude pushed open the door to the Guildhall and was immediately under the judgmental eyes of the Heroes inside. Claude could feel the butterflies in his stomach fluttering madly and his palms felt like they'd start dripping with sweat any minute.

After taking a few cautious breaths, he stepped all the way inside and walked over to wait in line at the registry to the left of the entrance. He had to wait in line with a few rugged men and women ahead of him, one of them smelled like blood and greed.

He could feel still feel the eyes of everyone at his back and due to his enhanced senses, he could hear what everyone was saying.

"He must be new."

"He looks so young...."

"Is that.....is that a rubber band made out of grass in his hair?"

Claude brought his fingers up to the bridge of his nose in frustration as he listened to the Heroes waiting idly in the main hall critique his looks.

"God dammit Arne! This disguise is dogshit." Claude thought angrily.

"[We're not here to be fashionable, Claude. Remember? We're here for survival...in a way.]" Arne replied.

Claude agreed and felt Frosty nudge up closer to him, seeming to understand his distress. He reached down— barely, and let his hand rest on Frosty's neck where his fur was thickest, he felt himself relaxing slowly afterward.

"Ok....uhhhh....sir. You seem new, are you here to register?" The woman behind the counter asked, catching him by surprise.

"Oh! Yes ma'am." Claude said before stepping up to the desk.

The woman's looks clashed with everyone else's in Guildhall causing Claude to study her a bit more intently. She had fair skin that looked completely untouched by sunlight and lively brown hair that was tied into a loose bun with random strands falling down around her young and pretty face. If he were to guess her age, he would say she was somewhere around 18 maybe 17.

Her bright blue eyes looked at him with interest causing him to feel a tinge of discomfort and self consciousness.

"So, based on your appearance, I'm guessing your here for a Night Run? Or at least to register as a Hero?" She asked.

"Mhm."

"Ok, cool. Why don't you start by giving me your ID?"

Claude's blood froze as he heard her question. "Why didn't I think of that? Am I that dumb? Is it all over?" He thought.

"Uhhhm, I don't have one." Claude said hoping it wasn't a requirement.

"Oh we can get you set up with one in the back?" She said while pointing to the room to the right of them.

"[Say no. They'll ask for a lot of details you can't lie about on the spot.]"

"What the hell do I say after then?" Claude said as sweat began to collect under his armpits.

"[Tell her you've lost it somewhere in your house.]"

Claude looked at her and said, "Oh no that's fine, I have one. I just lost it somewhere at home."

"Oh ok, that's fine for beginner level Tangents, you can't go into anything higher until you bring it, sorry."

"SHIT!" Claude roared in his mind.

"That's ok." He replied.

She smiled brightly and continued to question him, "So, we can still register you as a Hero just without the ID for now. What's your name?"

"[If you think of something that starts with the same letter of your first and last name it's a bit easier.]" Arne said.

"C-Carter..."

He froze for a moment while he thought about his last name. It sounded stupid, but he didn't want his last name to remind people of anything other than the fact that he was Gil Gray's son.

Suddenly a lightbulb went off in his mind.

"Carter Grayson." He said flatly.

"[You DUMBASS! That's too similar!]" Arne said angrily.

Claude ignored him and watched the woman finishing his name. During this time, she was staring at him intently, she even leaned over the desk to look at his bottom half.

"Uhm.....is everything alright?" He asked.

"Let me guess, your class is Assassin right?" She said with a slight twinkle in her eyes.

"Uhh..."

"Your build and clothing gave it away— your a little on the bulky side but its all muscle isn't it? How much do you train? You probably have high agility don't you?" As she spoke, a fresh new wave of excitement was visible on her face.

"[Just go with it.]" Arne said.

"I'm not an Assassin?!" Claude replied to Arne.

"[Did you want to come on here and say you were a Beast Tamer? Don't worry, your a Lupine. Playing as a low level Assassin shouldn't be too hard.]" Arne said.

Claude sighed and said, "Yes, I'm an Assassin. But I've only recently been Reborn."

"Ah!" She yipped excitedly and covered her mouth in shock, her eyes twinkled even more with a wild mixture of happy emotions that caused Claude's nose to sting from the intense smell of it all. "So much potential!" She said with wide eyes.

"Somethings wrong with this woman." Claude thought.

"[I think you might be right.]" Arne agreed.

Claude suddenly felt a steady flow of wind on his hand and realized Frosty's tail was wagging.

"I guess she's not too bad." He told himself.

"So, Mr. Assassin. Since I'm assuming your not from here, what was your Hero name back were you're from?" She asked once she calmed down.

"Uhh....no Hero name, I'm new...like very new." Claude said, choosing to use a little truth with his lies.

"That is perfectly fine. We have a couple options for that. Either you can choose yourself if you've got a good one, or you can let your squad members give you one based on your actions within the Tangents. Lastly, we have a random name generator based on your class....unfortunately I haven't been able to use it since nobody requests a random name." She said with a pout.

"Hmm....I don't have any Hero names fit for an Assassin.." he thought. "Alright, I'll go random I guess." He told her.

"Ha!" She yipped and jumped around in her spot behind the counter before picking up a box with the label "Assassin" on it. It looked incredibly low effort and plain— aside from sword and throwing star designs which made him confused about why she was so excited. Until he got the idea that maybe she made the boxes.

"Ok Mr. Assassin. Whew this is amazing!.....your legacy could begin here. Your name could be in all the newspapers and whispered about among some of the strongest Heroes and Guild Leaders....a name pulled straight from a random generator....MY random generator....heheh....this could be fate!" She said while shaking the box animatedly.

By this time, everyone was openly watching the event without worrying about staring or whispering too loudly.

After a few seconds, she stopped shaking the box and closed her eyes while she opened it. She began doing weird fake ritualistic hand movements over it before she quickly snatched out two slips of clean white paper.

Claude studied her face as she looked down at the words with confusion. After shaking her head in dislike, she swapped the slips of paper around and seemed to approve with the familiar gleam of excitement reappearing in her big blue eyes.

"Allblack! You are Allblack, The Assassin! It fits perfectly! And sounds.....menacing." She said deviously.

"God dammit! That sounds like a supervillain name."