Ch 4 "...Lead Me to The Life"

Aaron pov--------

"Sis, did you hear that?"

Elora smirked "Yea yea, nice prank bro. Come on out Colt, I know you're there."

The awkward silence was not encouraging to say the least. About three minutes must have passed before Ellora paced confidently to the window.

Just as she was about to reach the opening, Colt jumped from the bushes with a large smile on his face.

Everything seemed normal, from his disheveled hair, to the expression on his face, even the shabby clothes on his back making him slightly more believable. Perhaps, to my sister at least, although he hid it well, the constant amount of eye contact tipped me off; it was the kind of look that spoke to you after knowing a person long enough.

So something is wrong. I need to talk to him about it later, maybe during break or after work. Well, all I know is we can't talk now, for one I'm late for work, and needless to say Elora would not be ok in the slightest.

Faking a smile I ran up to Colt, Elora joining us for one big awkward group hug over the side of our window. Having known each other since almost birth I guess you could say we developed a kind of family all on our own, despite our position in society. Our love for each other came naturally and it made us inseparable for as long as I could remember.

After our group hug Elora playfully punched Colt on the upper arm.

"Colt, please. Don't do that again, you've always been a prankster but this is too much, even for me. I don't even want to know how much money you spent on an item that makes such a weird voice possible." she said in a jovial manner

I don't think he has any money to spend on that kind of an item. Mr. Hunt cut his pay in half last week because he...was...late...oh no

Seeing as I was already dressed and closer to the window than the door, I made a split second decision to throw myself out the window.

Wasting no time, I started running. "Colt we gotta go!"

In just 15 minutes, we manage to arrive at a large bakery on the corner of a not so reputable street. Although the surroundings were less than pleasant with lots of trash and homeless scattered around, the bakery stood out in how a massive line stretched out the doors and around almost the entire block.

Even some higher end customers could be seen on the trashy street patiently waiting. Taking a glance up at the position of the Sun which was about to reach the middle of the sky at this point, despair starts to set in.

"Fuuuck!!" Screaming bloody murder Colt stops dead in his tracks as an extremely muscular and bald middle aged man sporting a full ginger beard exits the shop. I also stop, quickly thinking of my coin purses impending doom. If my pay gets cut Elora will never let me hear the end of it.

Taking notice of us the absolute behemoth of a man began taking long strides forward, stopping just before us.

"Ello Cunts"

In response me and Colt yelled in unison ""Hello Mr. Hunt sir!""

Ignoring us, Hunt immediately points out the mud all over my clothes "Oh my God! Arron ya look like shit! What Happened!?"

"I-I kind of uh um f-fell..." Stammering and surprised he even cared, I was struggling desperately to think of any excuse to make myself not sound like an idiot after jumping from the ground floor window.

Narrowing his eyes Hunt seemed to no longer have any interest and turned to face Colt briefly and then looked back to me "Well seeing as you are a first time offender and ya managed to keep Shit stain over here away from me for a whole hour..." he said referring to Colt

"I see no reason for punishment in fact, take the day off. now as for you…" he said gesturing toward Colt and beginning to stroke his thick beard.

After a second of contemplation Hunt spoke "For today and tomorrow you are going to work around the clock and into the night. No Pay. No Breaks. No fuckin arround."

"Oh and enjoy your Paid day off Aaron because if I find you are late one more damn time you're gonna be doing the same shit!" Looking at my clothes again he adds "fucking pig" under his breath

"Colt be at your station in three minutes!" with seemingly no words left to say he simply turned around and walked straight back into the shop. Unable to believe what I just heard my mouth was agape.

Colt quickly sprang into action running to follow Hunt just barely stopping at the door to take a glance at me before going inside

Damn...that Brigand gets more creative with his punishments every passing day.

Well guess I'm free today… but what to do…

"Aaron!"

Exiting the shop was just the right person to help solve my boring day problem. Time to finally cash in on a promise years in the making. My chat with Colt will have to wait

"You really do look like shit today Mr. Hunt wasn't lying. Said he never thought half elves were the homeless looking type" A tall young man with layered blood red armor and short blond hair approached, holding a terrifying looking helmet displaying no slits to see out of, only a depiction of a Red Rose covering the face of the helm.

Dune was a kid at the orphanage once, until he got picked up by a small noble family and became the one thing I always dreamed of. A mighty Blood knight, every city has at least a few dozen of them.

However...I don't want to be Blood knight for the power or prestige, sure there are pretty good bonuses that come with the job but to be completely honest I only want the money. Blood knights are paid extremely well, for example Dune himself was wealthy enough to elevate his adoptive parents noble house from small to large in terms of wealth just by being part of the family.

With that kind of money I could live easy for the rest of my life. I would even give Elora and Colt a portion to live off or maybe start my own noble house!

Ignoring his playful joke, I get straight to the point. This is the first step in achieving my dream and he has a promise. "Hey Dune! So it's my birthday and...you know…as a present maybe you could uh...train me to be a blood knight...like you"

Looking flustered the young knight was surprised by the sudden question "Um Aaron I'm sorry but-"

"PLEASE! You said once I was 18 I could train with you! You promised!" I say in desperation.

With a tinge of anger Dune raised his voice "And I will train you! As a Knight I am bound to my word!"

I instantly shut up realizing how quickly I was to beg, It felt absolutely shameful.

With an exasperated sigh, Dune placed a hand on my shoulder "Listen before any sort of training we need to have a serious talk about your future. Come to my mansion in the inner city before sunset."

Holding out his hand, a large crimson coin about the size of my palm with many intricate designs seemed to appear out of thin air. "This is my mark, it will grant you entry to the inner city and tell you my location. Keep it hidden and don't lose it. Understand?"

"Uh...are you sure? This thing sounds pretty important…" AND EXPENSIVE! This thing looks like it probably cost more than the Orphanage I live in.

"Shut up and Don't worry about it. Anyone with half a brain can hold onto a simple coin, No?"

"I guess..."

"Good, besides, it's only for a day. Understood?

"Yes sir!" I said with a large grin and a sloppy salute, absolutely ecstatic at the thought of being trained by one of the best fighters in the whole city.

Dune began to laugh at my piss poor salute before abruptly stopping and closing his eyes.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I tried poking him, and it seemed to work as he quickly opened his eyes. Immediately, he began swiftly walking away from me and the bakery. "Something has come up, I must take my leave. Don't forget to stop by the mansion. Farewell Aaron!" Dune shouted over his shoulder before turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

"YEEEEESSS" Unable to contain my joy and excitement, I screamed out while holding Dune's coin close to my chest. This is it! This is what's gonna lead me to the life!