Future Glories - Part 13

Somehow, for the man that had murdered so many people as of late, that didn't feel quite. He shook his head internally at his own vague sense of morality. Maybe he was just showing off. Maybe he was just making use of that which he'd gained in these few short days to remind him of a past where it would have mattered.

The children that he'd grown up playing with – all dead now, frozen in the street of Bolrif – they would have clambered if they'd seen how much wealth he'd accrued. It would have mattered then. Did it matter now? Did anything matter but strength? Vol chose not to think about it.

"One copper each, and be good about it. You'd better not steal it off each other. Save the stealing for the enemy, like that drunk over there," Vol said, plopping a copper coin into the axe owner's outstretched hand. He seemed hardly to be able to believe the weight of it.

"The enemy?" The boy repeated.

"Sure. He took your axe, didn't he?" Vol replied. "Train for that, make sure he can't take it in future." He handed out coins to a few other children. The less trustful ones began to rush forward, determined not to be left out. He gave them their copper coins as well, not sure why exactly he was lecturing children.

"Fair trade?" Vol asked the boy, to see if he still felt dissatisfied.

The boy grinned, a big smile, with a handful of teeth missing. "Yup! Thanks mister!"

Vol returned the smile, genuine. "Alright then, get going now. I've business to attend to."

Something about that made him feel good. Like he was playing at being an adult. He knew just how he used to look to warriors when they talked of business. He assumed it must have been grand things, planning the next battle, winning lots of coin from their companions, meeting with a beautiful woman.

For Vol, today, that business involved an experiment. To murder or not to murder? He turned his feet towards the docks, tossing the wooden axe in his free hand. The children scampered away, happy to leave him to his bidding.

The System had declared that he merely needed to 'help' a drunkard off the docks with an axe throw. It had determined that he needed to kill them. He'd bought that wooden axe to test that theory. Though it made him feel just a slight bit good to share coin with the street-bound youths, he also rationalized part of that away as an investment into discovering more about the System.

The docks were empty at this time of night, and behind the shipping buildings, part of them was quite well hidden too. He strolled after the path of the earlier drunk, quietly playing with his axe. No one would see, would they?

To kill or not to kill. That drunkard would likely be worth killing… but then what was the point of killing in the first place?

Too much thinking. If he tossed his axe, it'd likely get lost in the water along with the drunkard. That's a better reason. A cleverer reason.

He saw that the drunk had settled on the edge of the docks, his feet dangling over the edge, as he shouted into the waves, sipping from his bottle, continually rechecking it to make sure he hadn't run out yet.

Vol was surprised that he wasn't cold. There was snow on top of the wooden planks of the docks, and the occasional wave would splash onto them. He saw more than one catch the drunk, but the man hardly seemed to flinch.

He paused a short distance away. Short enough that he could make a sure shot, but far enough that he wouldn't immediately alert the drunk as to his presence there. But even if he did, what then? As far as he could see, there was no one else around. The torch placement on the docks was intermittent, and there were large patches of shadow in between each one. There was more than enough darkness to do the deed.

Even then, what deed was it? Just a bit of harmless fun. The water was ice cold. The weather would probably kill him, wouldn't it? Vol thought to himself, as he tossed the axe in his hand, lining up the shot.

It would be less of a certain kill than an axe to the ribcage. There were ropes he could climb out with, and stairs too, stairs that ran down to the sandy beach when the tide was out. He could clamber up any of those if he had the sense to. That seemed a large if, given his current drunken stupor.

Vol threw his axe anyway.

It clattered perfectly with the centre of the man's back. It was a weightier weapon than one would expect from a bit of wood. More than enough to knock a man unconscious if it caught him in the skull.

The weight and the surprise sent the drunkard off the edge of the docks without an issue.

There was a short shout, followed by a loud splash, as the man fell headfirst into the water.

!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT!

FURTHER MASTERY FOR SKILL 'AXE THROW – BASIC' ATTAINED. 4/5

Vol perked up at that. It was far, far faster than his speed in gaining the third level. The System hammered its lesson home with an example. Mere mindless repetition would indeed lead to the gain of further mastery points, but variance, and the weight of the problem he was solving, they mattered just as much.

!! SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT!

QUEST 'UNDERSTANDING' COMPLETE!

REWARDS DELIVERED:

WEAPONS PROFICIENCY: +5

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE +2

And then the other part of his experimentation was given the results that he sought. His initial interpretation of the System's orders – that he slay a man, and cause him to fall into the sea – was not the right one. As long as he fulfilled the order to the System's satisfaction, that was all that mattered, and he would be rewarded for it.