Chapter 12: Full Circle

The next day, I was working in the kitchen. I was incredibly nervous and at some point, I heard a lot of commotion outside.

The guards had been investigating.

Luckily, Jax returned with Rose and I was able to talk to her. For the purpose of the conversation, I would speak to her in the back of the kitchen.

Once again, she was wearing her full armor.

"Jax told me something really bad happened. Are you responsible for those two brutal murders...?" She asked with a whisper.

I slowly nodded.

"We were attacked on the way home last night," I said quietly.

She sighed.

"If only I had helped you two get home... I'm so sorry..." She said.

Not the reaction I thought I'd get...

"Are you not afraid of me?" I asked.

"Why would I be? You didn't do that because you hated them, right? They attacked you and Aria. If anything, they got what they deserved. That's what people are saying, anyway. Even if it was really brutal..."

"What people are saying...?"

Rose nodded.

"There were a lot of people cheering as the guards cleaned up their bodies. They cried out that the streets were safer as a result and that the person responsible shouldn't be punished."

"That's...the weirdest sense of self-satisfaction I think I've ever had..." I said.

Rose laughed a bit at this.

"You have the strangest ability to remain calm under pressure, you know? Well, we can't adventure today, it seems..."

"Sorry...we can still be friends, right?" I asked.

More than anything, I didn't want to lose the first friend I ever made that wasn't a family member.

I didn't really count Mason as a friend. When I emerged from the sewers, Jax and I paid him a visit to sell Daren's things and buy some armor. But that was the last I saw from him.

Rose was truly my only friend...

"Of course! I won't abandon you, Mizik," she said.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey Rose, are you hungry?" Jax asked with a smile.

"Ah...yes. But I'll eat later. I need to keep my helmet on."

"Aww come on! I'm sure you're not ugly! Right? You're probably really pretty!" Jax said.

"Jax..." I said.

"Haha...I appreciate the sentiment, Jax. But my father told me to keep my helmet on. Although, I would like to try some of the food here!" Rose said.

"Aww... Okay! We'll cook you something up! What do you like?" Jax asked with a wide smile.

"I like soup or stew. Preferably stew!" Rose said.

"Ha! Mizik makes an awesome stew. Hey, Mizik, get this girl something to eat!" Jax said.

"Right! Is it okay for you to eat, Rose?" I said.

She paused for a moment and nodded.

"It should be okay. Thank you so much!" She said.

I had actually made a new pot earlier in the day and it had recently finished cooking. I put some in a bowl with a lid. I gave it to Rose and she bowed her head.

"I'll be back later to return this bowl to you. Also to update you on the situation outside. Thanks again, Mizik! And don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" She said.

"Thanks, Rose. You're an amazing friend."

After that, she left.

I spent the rest of the day hiding in the kitchen.

At one point the guards questioned Maul about it to no avail.

We pretended not to know anything. Maul said he was too busy running the Inn to care about a couple of thugs who got what they deserved

And since that was the general opinion, he didn't look suspicious at all.

* * *

Later that day, I was still waiting for Rose to come back with the bowl. I knew for certain that she would return and planned to have words with her.

I had been feeling nervous for a while now, however.

A couple of hours ago, I started to have that dreadful feeling again. The one that usually accompanied the strange substance.

Impending doom.

I was already under enough stress already...and now this?

Regardless, we kept working as normal.

We were closing soon and Aria walked into the kitchen straight up to me. Her face was grim.

"Mizik," she whispered to me. "You need to come out here now!"

I nodded at her and began walking out of the kitchen.

On the outside, I wasn't worried, but...

I was terrified on the inside.

Shit! Shit shit SHIT!!! How did they find me so quickly!? What the hell!?

I followed Aria and she led me to a table where Maul and Cleo were sitting and talking to a man with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing armor.

We stopped by the table.

"I brought him, Papa. Is everything okay?" Aria asked Maul casually.

"Yeah, everything's fine, sweetie. The nice man just wanted to have a word with one of our cooks, is all," Maul said with a relaxed expression.

I heard them speaking, but I had frozen in place.

This can't be happening. Please no!

I silently screamed to myself as I stared at the man sitting at the table casually enjoying a bowl of soup.

It was none other than the Knight Captain. The one that let my father die and evicted me from my home.

What is this bastard doing here!?

He looked up at me and smiled.

His face said that he was enjoying himself, while his eyes looked sinister.

"Thank you so very much for allowing me to speak with him," the Captain said. "Truthfully, I've been worried about this boy ever since his father passed away in the mines."

Suddenly the air felt different. Maul and Cleo exchanged glances.

Luckily, I had plenty of time in the past few months to tell them both everything that happened to me so far.

And I would have been a fool to waste it.

They knew the story. Especially the part about the Captain, but they never saw him in person.

"What do you mean sir? You know this kid?" Maul said casually.

"Yes. Believe it or not, I was at the mines. I begged my men to help him out so that his father wouldn't have perished, but they wouldn't listen to me. Mizik's father met with a tragic end and he even blamed me for it as a result," the Captain lied through his teeth.

I couldn't believe my ears. I could feel the hatred rising in my chest.

And without skipping a beat, he continued.

"One of my superior offers then saw fit to evict him from his house. Poor Mizik was cast into the street all alone. I could do nothing but watch under the threat of death. I'm so glad to see that he is well."

I was furious. Looking at him lie so casually only made me angrier. It was all his fault! He abandoned my father! He evicted me! I wanted nothing more than to kill this bastard.

"You...damn liar..." I managed to say as I felt the adrenaline begin to flow. "All of that was your fault!"

Maul narrowed his eyes at me and spoke.

"Mizik, is this the Knight Captain you told us about?" He simply asked. I nodded.

"Oh, please, don't call me by my title. I do have a name, you know? My name is Cain," he said.

Maul turned towards Cain and clenched his fist.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you've caused my grandson enough trouble, already. Get your filthy lying sorry ass out of our Inn or I'm gonna tear your damn arms off!" Maul said as he gritted his teeth.

I had never seen him so pissed in my life. He was so angry that veins were popping out on his head.

Cain simply smiled.

"You're not really in a position to tell me what I can and can't do, sir," Cain said as he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, every adventurer in the dining hall stood up and pulled out their weapons.

Upon closer inspection, they all had a Lorelei knights crest somewhere on their body.

We were completely outnumbered and surrounded.

At once, Maul tried to stand, but another knight had approached behind and put a crossbow to Aria's back.

Why!? What does this bastard have against me!?!?

"Please, have a seat, everyone. Let's talk. Except you though, dollface. You can stay right where I can see you," Cain said while staring at Aria.

Maul and I sat down while she remained standing.

"Let's begin. First of all, I want to talk about the goblin incident," Cain began.

"What's there to talk about? It was a simple job that took a while to complete," I said.

"Not so simple, really. Do you know the health concerns of leaving hundreds of goblin corpses laying around just below the city? In the water? Additionally, there were loads of untriggered traps down there and several of my men were hurt in the exploration of the tunnels," Cain said with a wave.

My heart sank in my chest.

"I'll continue. Additionally, we found the corpse of a man who had been sent to deal with the problem. He had rotted away significantly, but the cause of death was clear. He was shot in the throat by a crossbow."

"Hang on, goblins can carry crossbows if they're small enough. How do you know he wasn't killed by a goblin?" Maul asked as he tried to find a foothold.

"Well, it's really rather simple. Because his corpse was found over a triggered trap. Almost as if he was lured there by someone on purpose. Lastly, his inventory was emptied of any valuables and all of his money." Cain looked over at me with a smile.

Shit! I have to think of something!!!

"I can admit that I met that man down there. But, if you'll let me defend myself, he tried to kill me first. He planned to kill me and take my stuff. He even admitted it before he attacked. It was self-defense!" I said desperately.

"Hmm, likely story. Daren was well known to be a thug. Although, shooting someone in the throat is definitely going overboard. Besides, I'm not sure I can take your word for it, considering there weren't any eyewitnesses. But speaking of going overboard..." Cain began again.

This man was literally about to take everything away from me again.

"The two bodies of the wonderful gentlemen found in the alleyway... It was you wasn't it, Mizik? And don't try to deny it. The carnage on those bodies was exactly the same as what we saw in the sewers. You're really brutal for someone so young, you know?"

I gritted my teeth and trembled with a mixture of fear and anger.

"I'll continue, we also have an eyewitness report that says Mizik instigated the entire thing," Cain laid it on even thicker than before.

"That's a lie!!" Aria shouted. Cain looked up at her with a condescending smile.

"Oh? Do you have something to add, my dear?" Cain spoke.

"Yes! I was with Mizik when it happened. He was walking me home! Those thugs attacked him first and tried to hurt me as well! Mizik protected me and if he wasn't there I might have died!" Aria said as she teared up.

"I'd have to agree. It's well out of character for Mizik to provoke anyone to fight him like that," Cleo, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

"Is that so? Well, I'm ashamed to admit that I could say otherwise. He said some rather hurtful and menacing things to me-... To my commanding officer on the day of his eviction."

"Well, what did you think would happen when you tried to evict him from his home!? Of course, he'd be pissed! But he was just trying to take my daughter home and got attacked by those thugs!" Maul said as he clenched his fist even harder.

Yes! Please help me, everyone! I don't want this guy to take everything from me again!!!

"Hmm, I see. Your arguments are, unfortunately, irrelevant. Mizik has gone far beyond what is acceptable self-defense. As such, I hereby place you under arrest, Mizik Iratus!" Cain shouted.

Bastard! Where is Rose!? She can vouch for me as well!

"Actually...I have a better idea!" Cain said with a sinister smile. "I've been itching for a chance to teach this child some manners. It would bring me no greater joy than to execute him, myself. And afterward..." He looked over at Aria and licked his lips. "I may have to bring that girl down to the barracks for some...further questioning."

Aria flinched and her eyes went wide.

Maul, who had been clutching the table with his hand, suddenly squeezed harder and caused the wood to splinter and break.

Cain held up his hand and another man with a crossbow pointed his weapon at Maul from behind.

"Everyone please stop!" I said aloud. "Cain, it's me you want, right? If you leave everyone else here alone, I'll come with you, peacefully."

"An excellent suggestion, but that isn't what I want. I'll only be satisfied when I see you lying dead on the ground. Although if you best me in a duel, you might have time to save your fellow fugitives here before my knights slaughter them. They are guilty of harboring a criminal, after all," Cain spoke as he slowly stood up. "Let's take this out back, shall we? I want to see what you can really do, this time."

I looked at Maul and gave him a nod. He responded in kind.

As I stood up, I quickly glanced at the doorway to the kitchen. I could see Jax peeking out from behind the wall.

Good. If they can get everyone on the same page, we might stand a chance.

Many others in the back were actually former adventurers. I had gotten to know each and every one of them at this point. I was sure that they could easily deal with the knights.

They would just need a diversion of some kind. If I could kill Cain, then I would immediately come back to do just that.

I followed Cain out behind the Inn. There was plenty of space to do battle here out of sight from the street.

I stood afar off from Cain and pulled my armor from my inventory. He was kind enough to allow me to put it on over my work uniform.

Once I was ready to go, I drew my sword and faced him.

"Before we start, I want to ask you a question," I said.

"You get one," Cain said as he unsheathed his longsword and readied his shield.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked.

"We regard you as an annoyance. Your very existence is abominable. End of story."

What the hell does that even mean? Is he pissed off because I'm the child of a nobleman and a peasant woman? Because I'm an Iratus!?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I said you only get one, didn't I?" Cain lowered his stance and charged at me.

He reached me quickly and brought his sword down over my unprotected head. I raised my shield and deflected it by shifting the weight to the left.

Then I shouted.

"Assault slash!!!" I charged forward and slammed into him then brought my sword down onto his head.

He shifted and took the blow onto one of his pauldrons. It clanged loudly and I felt my sword vibrate.

"Hah! That's not going to work on me!" Cain laughed as he raised his shield and shouted. "Shield bash!!" I felt his shield hit me hard and my feet left the ground as I was sent backward.

I landed as Cain charged straight at me and slashed his sword down in a diagonal strike.

I got my bearings and curled up behind my shield. The blade clanged hard off of it.

I jumped back to my feet as I prepared to attack again.

Close range attacks might not work too well here...however...

I raised my sword and pointed it at Cain.

I learned a pretty neat trick about channeling electricity in the months of doing requests I had.

"Chain lightning!!!" A powerful bolt of lightning sparked and arced out of my sword and slammed into Cain and his full plate armor. Frying him where he stood.

"GAAAHHHHHH!!!" Cain screamed in pain as he was electrocuted.

"Fireball!! Magic Arrow!!!" I shouted my skills as Cain got his bearings.

"Not so fast! Magic barrier!!" He shouted as a wall of magic bubbled up around himself and condensed over his armor. My spells exploded harmlessly over it without leaving a scratch.

Shit!

Cain swished his sword and called out another skill.

"Iron wall!" Another barrier appeared overtop of the one that was already active.

Cain gave me a sly look.

"Now try to hurt me, you bastard child!!" He said as he charged at me again.

We exchanged blows back and forth, both blocking and attacking in sequence. I deflected his blade with my shield and tried to stab him in the throat.

"Critical slash!!!" I shouted and my blade connected with his neck just before bouncing off.

"Idiot!" Cain said as he turned aside and kicked me in the stomach.

I almost lost my footing as I slid back and Cain was upon me again.

"Assault slash!!!" He shouted as he slammed into me and swung his blade down at my head just as I had done to him.

I twisted my body and caused his attack to clang hard off of my shoulder. I felt my armor cave in slightly and it hurt my arm.

I jumped back from Cain and panted from the exchange.

He seemed only slightly out of breath.

"This is kind of boring, to be honest. I expected more of a challenge from someone who can tear people to shreds as you do," Cain said.

I gritted my teeth and glared at him

I wanted to show him how I did those things but... Would it be enough?

I was still below level 40. He was at least level 55.

Maybe it could bridge the gap?

My life was on the line here, and I had nothing else to lose.

"Fine then. I'll show you what I can do!" I sucked in air as I directed my anger at the man who seemed to want nothing more than to torment me. "RAGE OF IRATUS!!!" I screamed as I once again felt my blood boil with searing fury.

"Oh?" Cain said curiously.

I shot towards him like an arrow.

"Lunar Slash!!!" My blade crossed in a diagonal crescent and clanged harmlessly off his chest plate.

Yes! I'm faster now! Time to make this bastard bleed!

I wasn't going to get anywhere with that pesky shield... Luckily, I had acquired a skill for just such an occasion.

"Armor Break!!!" I shouted at the still bewildered Cain. I turned my blade up and brought the hilt crashing down on his shield that he managed to bring up at the last second.

There was a loud crack and his magic barriers shattered. And finally, his shield as well.

Cain looked furious at this.

"YOU BASTARD CHILD!! DIE!!" Cain screamed in rage As he tried to slash me with his sword.

Too slow.

I ducked under the blade and shouted again.

"Armor Break!!!" My hilt slammed into his chest and his cuirass shattered.

His torso was now exposed!

Cain's face twisted to one of terror as he scrambled back.

But I was already upon him.

I could feel my rage increasing with every step I made towards his death.

As I fought...I started to hear a faint voice in the back of my mind.

[Tear him to pieces! Kill him! Make him pay for his sins!!!]

I decided to ignore it for now and continued onward.

"Critical Slash!!" My blade shot forward and just barely missed the center of his throat, cutting his neck slightly.

"Fine then! I guess I'll get serious!"

He shouted as he backed away again and held his sword up sideways. "Corruption Blade!"

Sinister dark magic began to well up around his sword.

Cain charged at me with blinding speed. His sword barely missed my neck and cut me just like I had done to him.

I need to wrap this up. My skill is going to run out at any moment now!

I ducked down and bashed him with my shield, sending him back a few feet. Then I moved in for the kill.

"ASSAULT SLASH!!!" I charged forward and brought my sword down over his head. He managed to avoid the blade but the lack of armor on his torso had a terrible effect on him.

I sliced his free arm clean off from the shoulder.

Cain screamed in pain as blood spurted from his shoulder and fell backward to the ground. At that exact moment, Rage of Iratus wore off.

Cain dropped to his knees while writhing in pain.

"You...you piece of shit!!! How dare you wound me!!!"

I had dropped to one knee while panting heavily and Cain slowly stood up as he glared daggers at me.

No...! I can't move now!

Rage of Iratus had taken its toll. I was severely weakened...

Cain slowly walked over to me as his pained expression turned into a twisted smile.

"I'm going to make you scream, Mizik. You're going to beg me to end your life before I kill you!!!" Cain spoke as he bared his teeth.

Just then, a figure ran out from the side of the building and punched Cain square in his jaw.

Jax had sent Cain sprawling backward onto his side.

He sprinted to my side as soon as Cain landed.

"Mizik! Don't worry man, I got you. Just stay back, okay?"

"Jax...what about everyone? Are they safe?" I asked him.

"Yeah, everyone's fine. Rose showed up to return that bowl and helped us get started. Maul and the others took care of the rest. They sent me to come out and help you," Jax said.

Yes!!! Thank you, Rose!

"Thank goodness... If I can just get to my feet, I can-"

"Don't worry about it. Looks like you already did plenty. Now just watch uncle Jax in action," he said as he pulled his huge greatsword off of his back.

"Vermin...every one of you..." Cain managed to say.

Cain glared at the two of us as he lay on the ground. His head was laying right next to a sewer drain on the ground.

"You're finished, pal. Just give up," Jax said as he readied his combat stance.

Just then I saw something that terrified me.

The dark substance. The very same vile stuff that had been haunting me up until this point began to rise out of the sewer drain.

Cain saw it and had a look of confusion on his face.

"What is this? What's going on here?" He managed to say.

Just then, the dark substance snapped at him and forced its way into his mouth. Into his eyes and nose.

Cain gurgled and let loose muffled screams as he writhed on the ground squirming. The dark substance flowed out of the drain and into the air, connecting with the wound on his shoulder and soaking into it.

What the hell are we witnessing?

Jax and I looked on in fear, disgust, and confusion as the squirming stopped.

Moments later, a large hulking black arm sprouted from the stump and Cain stood up off the ground to admire it.

He seemed to get slightly taller and I could see the black substance pulsing through his veins.

His eyes turned black as he smiled at us both.

"Well well well! I feel amazing! This is truly what it means to be alive! I feel so powerful now!" Cain shouted joyfully. His voice had deepened somewhat and it sounded like someone else was talking underneath him.

I felt terror gripping me. Along with an ever-growing feeling...

Impending doom.

WHAT IS THAT ABOMINABLE SUBSTANCE!? WHAT DID IT JUST DO TO HIM!?

"Mizik...what's going on here!?"

"I have no idea, Jax. I've seen that stuff before, but I've never seen it attack anything like that!!!"

Jax looked on in fear as Cain stepped forward. Cain's black arm shapeshifted into several weapons as if he was testing it out. A spike, a mace, an ax, and a blade.

"I'm gonna slaughter everyone once I'm through with you two!!" Cain shouted.