Chapter 5 | His Name

After I made my way outside the castle, I came across a street bustling with various people going about their days. The clothing on this side seems to have developed in a similar way to ours over the past centuries so I didn't stand out too much. However, I was on a timer that was steadily ticking down, soon news of what happened at the castle would spread, and I won't be able to appear in public anymore.

I held my head downwards while making my way through the crowd, singling out bits and pieces of conversation as I walk by. Most of it was useless but I managed to catch some relevant info. I turn around and follow the source of the noises.

"I know! Apparently they're going to random families from the 3rd to 5th district dragging the oldest son or daughter out and forcefully drafting them into the army!"

I listen in to an interesting bit of conversation from two young men.

"They've been getting that desperate huh? Wow, I might leave Lyster along with my family and try to sneak into Oliviand before the war catches up to this city. Honestly, with the way things have been progressing, this place is done for. When Kaldros fell, this war was doomed from the start."

"By the way, have you heard of that new tavern that opened up near the edge of the first and second district? Wow! It's nothing like what you've been used to the drinks there are-"

I quickly drifted back into the crowd as they start talking about something else. Interesting, interesting, Kaldros and Oliviand, I'll have to find out more about those two places later. For now, keep walking.

Long shadows cast over the street as the sun dips below the tall but densely packed buildings. I probably have until the end of the day before I can't show my face around here.

I find a dark alleyway, take a look around me to see if anybody was watching, I take a deep breath and feel my Tetsu turning airy and light, my body becoming one with the wind. I then funnel that feeling of wind, concentrating it beneath my feet. Fwooosh! A bubble of air pops launching me peacefully high into the air. Slowly floating as if I weighed no more than a piece of paper. I then grab the ledge of the rooftop and pull myself to the top.

Ah, as I thought. The area I'm in is unique. It must be those districts that guy was talking about. The buildings here were noticeably taller and superior to the buildings closer to the edge of the city. It seems like the edge of the city was the poorest part, and the closer you got to the center or the castle, the better the living conditions became, making the city look like a rings layered around each other, and I was currently in the central ring, the richest part of the city. Which would explain why the two people I eavesdropped on didn't seem overly concerned with the war. They were rich.

I guess that's what the districts represent as well. So if they're forcing people out of their homes for the war in the 3rd and 5th district, then I should be able to see what's going on if I head over to the 3rd ring of buildings out.

To an outside observer, going through all these hoops to figure out more about the war would look unnecessary. I could have stayed at the castle and someone more knowledgeable could have informed me of everything, but then I would learn nothing. I would be deceived. Willingly or unwillingly. By people who vastly overestimate their own abilities and talents. People, who were given positions of power from their very birth. I will never trust anyone with a hint of royal blood in them.

I don't fully trust Crux; however, he's likely the most honest man in that entire castle, and then there's that assassin. She might kill for a living, but I'll take her over anybody in that castle any day of the week… My mind also wanders to one particular princess who I nearly killed a couple minutes ago. Well, she's probably an optimistic idiot, but she isn't so bad either.

Alright. Then time to go. I look away and begin to move away from the 1st district.

I drift across the rooftops, practically gliding from one rooftop to the next. My mastery of Tetsu is centered around fire; however, with how long I've been studying and practicing air, it's also become very respectable. I also know a tiny bit about water, just enough to put out any fires I might start. And also for a particular trick I like to do.

As I make my way out of the 1st district I spot a dense collection of people mingling around a building. I look around and then see a clear dip in quality with the construction of the buildings to the right of the building. So that means any further from here and I should be in the 2nd district, and there was talk of a new tavern that had just opened up near the edge of the first and second district. I stop and think about what to do.

…Well, why not. Alcohol does make mouths looser and people more friendly. It wouldn't hurt to gather information if I stop there for a sec. I make my way down from the rooftop and quietly make my way inside. A few heads turn as I step in, but just a quickly they go back to whatever they were doing previously.

I make my way to a table in a dark corner of the room, put my head down, and listen.

"The Tetsudo are set to appear some time today, hope they're stronger than the Tetsudo Oliviand get. We need a spark to turn this war around."

Ah, so as I thought, Oliviand is the nation at war with Lyster, the one that assassin is fighting for. The one that's currently winning.

Twenty minutes pass without any much more news.

"Man, I miss King Mallefard, the world was such a better place, and then it turned to shit."

I get up from my table, "Excuse me, I'm new around here but who are you talking about? What happened?"I plop down in the seat right next to the two men, I'm not going to get anything substantial unless I directly ask.

"Huh? You don't know? King Mallefard was assassinated during a trip to Oliviand. Man, you must come from really far away if you didn't know that. It was the reason this whole wretched war started in the first place."

"Any reason why he was killed? Was there already tensions flaring between the two countries before it happened?" I asked.

"Hell if I know what caused it. All I know was that times were peaceful until that happened." As the men begin giving me an annoyed look. I took that as my cue to leave.

"Thank you." I politely bow my head and return back to my seat.

He was assassinated huh? Well, that would certainly be a reason for a war to start. However, I have to find out why he was killed in the first place. If he was someone evil then it would certainly be justified.

I put my head down and continue listening.

An hour passes. The bouncers were beginning to look at me suspiciously as I haven't moved to buy any drinks or food this entire time. They'll probably kick me out pretty soon for taking up space, but I'll keep waiting until then.

The door to the tavern slams open with a loud thud. "BAD NEWS, THE TETSUDO KILLED THIRTEEN PEOPLE FROM THE CASTLE THEN ESCAPED, HIS CURRENT WHEREABOUTS IN THE CITY ARE UNKNOWN, TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!" An unfamiliar voice yells.

The room explodes into a storm of chatter as people start panicking. Adrenaline rushes through my body, but I manage to stay still. I knew the news was going to begin spreading some time soon. It looks like the blame for the people that the assassin killed is being pinned on me as well

Now, I should get out of here soon. They shouldn't know what my face looks like just yet. So I can probably walk out of here just fine.

I wait for another twenty minutes before finally getting out of my seat and leaving the tavern.

As expected, everyone was talking about my breaking out of the castle. The news travelled unexpectedly fast, but fortunately nobody recognized me nor stopped me.

I think I'll avoid traveling by rooftop right now. It would be all too obvious who I am if I'm seen floating across the sky by some random onlooker. So I held my head down and made my way into the second district.

I continue moving from the second district into the third, then arrived all the way in the 5th district.

The city had become a far stretch from what I saw in the first district, the buildings here were rotten, decrepit. The faint scent of trash wafted through the area. These were the people who would die first if the city was breached, and of course they would be too poor to leave the city unlike the wealthy people closer to the center.

"Hey, you. You look like you've had a shower in the past year. Mind telling us why a rich kid like you is wandering around this bad bad neighborhood?" I whirl around to see a group of dirty looking men and woman, young and old seemingly coming out of nowhere. The group begins to surround me, blocking any routes of escape.

"I'm not here to cause any trouble. I won't stay for long, I just want to know more about what's going on with the war."

"What? You thought you could connect to poor folk living in the dirt and eatin the trash? You think we're gonna celebrate and grovel at your feet like you were an angel coming down from the heavens?" A young man step forward from out the crowd, a cocky grin permeating his face. His hair was messy and long, it looked like he had never shaven in his life.

"If you've come to rob me, I don't have a single penny on me." I said.

"But you yourself are worth something, I'm sure your parents will pay a nice sum for your safe return."

I snort with derision, "I don't have parents. Not anymore. Actually I suspect that if you kidnap me you'll find yourself caught up in much more trouble than if you haven't."

Should I just tell them? I need to be able to connect to these people in some way, make them trust me.

"Aww, I'm so scared. Who's going to come for us? Those shiny fancy little soldiers up in the castle? The military? You really think you're important enough to be worth anything don't you?"

"Whatever idea you have of me right now, I can guarantee that it's wrong." They must think I'm some rich kid who just happened to wander into a bad part of town. Which is pretty understandable… And partly true.

"Then, I have a proposition. I'll make a bet, that none of you will be able to lay a finger on me, and in the next twenty seconds, all of you will be laying on the floor groaning." I take my hands out of my pockets and hold my palms out.

The man roared with laughter. "I can't believe that you don't know who we are! All of us have been fighting day after day to provide for the people living in this dump! Time for a reality check!"

The man then burst towards where I was standing, his fist viciously lashing out like a snake.

I had no hope of dodging their attacks with my own physical prowess especially if we got locked in close combat. I inhale deeply once again, the rush of wind surges through my body. The man's attack flies right in front of my head missing me by a few inches. Confusion rolls across his face. I had not moved a single step from where I started. I had created a mirage from where I was standing so that he would misjudge my location and miss my head by a few inches.

"Whoa!" He immediately recovers by whirling around, hurtling a kick at my ribs with breakneck speed. I instinctually create a dense bomb of wind separating his foot from my body, this slowed his kick down drastically and simultaneously launched me right before the kick connected.

"I really need to get used to the speed at which these people can move." I muttered to myself as I rubbed the tender area which the kick connected with. Despite heavily softening the blow, it still hurt as much as a normal kick to the ribs.

Once again another confused look. He knows his leg slowed down at the last second before making contact. Oops no time to think, I accelerated towards the ground aided by a strong wind as a young woman flew over my head with a kick. As she flew over my head, I held my palm open to the sky and let out a blast of wind launching her high into the sky. She didn't seem as strong or fast as that man but I definitely still had to be careful.

"EVERYBODY STOP!" The man yells as somebody dashes away to catch the girl I launched into the sky. He then turns his gaze towards me.

"Who the hell are you? You're not fighting with anku."

Ah, I guess the jig is up. I was hoping to fight in such a way to emulate anku, but it looks like their eyes were too sharp.

"Will you be willing to talk if I told you who I really am?"

The man puts his finger to his beard and makes a thinking pose. "Well, I can pretty much guess based on what was supposed to happen today, but why are you out in the 5th district wandering around alone? Shouldn't you be in the castle right now?"

"I left the castle. They were too rich and snobby for my liking."

Everyone around me is stunned with silence as they struggle to make sense of what was going on.

"So, do you want to continue on with the bet? It's only been ten seconds, eight of which has been spent talking." I stared at the man.

The man who I'm assuming is the leader looks down and grins. "Well that's even better! We can get a reward from the royals themselves if you bring you down. We won't have to worry about a thing for the rest of our lives" He laughs as he continues his attack.

The rest of gang looked hesitant, however, they followed his lead.

Well, it looks like I don't need to hold back anymore.

I hold both my palms towards the ground, fingers spread out in all directions. You could release tetsu from any part of your body; however, there were 3 points on the body where tetsu had the easiest time escaping from. The hand, the feet, and the mouth. They were the three best areas to release tetsu from by far. It was possible to release Tetsu from anywhere on the body, but it was like comparing a water faucet to a waterfall.

"HA!" I let out a roar of exertion.

Invisible whips of wind flew across the ground at near sonic speeds knocking everybody off their feet. Dirt, rocks, pebbles, all flew into the air creating a tornado of debris as the whip rampaged around the area. And then! I point my fingers towards the sky sending off the second burst of wind. A destructive surge of air comes flying from the heavens pinning everyone down to the ground, preventing anyone from getting back on their feet.

And within 15 seconds, I knock down all 7 people fighting.

I relax and then take a look at my handiwork.

A storm of debris cover the area. The wind was uprooting all the dirt and trash that had accumulated on the ground all these years.

"Gah, bleh, phew, okay okay! We get it!" The leader sputtered lying facedown on the dirt as trash and debris flew into their mouths and eyes.

I guess they should know that they're no match for me at this point. It should be safe to let them go. I release the wind then the area immediately settles down.

Everyone tentatively picks themselves off the ground, dusting all the dirt on their ragged clothes as they do it.

"Come on everyone. Let's go we're wasting our time with this guy." The leader gives me one look before turning his back and walking away.

"Hold on, I won a bet didn't I?" I called out after him.

"I don't recall ever agreeing to that bet." He stopped walking.

"I see, then instead of a bet, do you want to make a deal?" I walk up right next to his ear and whisper. "I swear that this will cause no trouble to your group or your families."

His gaze loosens a bit after hearing that. "What do you want?"

A soft grin forms on my face, "All I want is to hear about the war from the perspective of someone most affected by it. Let me stay with you guys for a while, I'll agree to help you with whatever you guys need, then we'll go our separate ways."

He furrows his brow while looking at the ground deep in thought. However, he slowly begins to smile."You are the most wanted man in the city. It would be incredible dangerous for us to host you. So in exchange; you're going to help us escape this place."

I stare at him in surprise. "I guess... I can agree to that."

"Great! My name is Thork, what's yours?"

"My name is... My name is Cain."