Human Pride

Have a nice day! We'll be open again later on tonight." A man called as the last of the people left the bar. "Drinking till dawn, people are so irresponsible."

"Come on Jay, have a drink." A man slammed down his mug as he chuckled quietly. "We don't have anything else to do, might as well drink our sorrows away."

"Drinking won't help the situation, Ryu." Jay replied with a glare. "Drinking never helps anything, the only thing that will help is finding some way out of this hellhole."

The man hiccuped as he took another swig of beer. "It isn't all bad."

"Says the guy who owns the place." Jay muttered under his breath.

"Sure we have made some poor decisions since our school days but we could've ended up a lot worse."

"Worse. Really Ryuma, how could this have ended up any worse? My sister left me to go to some college in Frostpoint while I'm sitting around as some loser dropout!" Jay yelled. "Not only that but this garbage ass job is barely keeping a roof over my head so I can't even make enough money to visit her. Don't expect you'd consider giving me a raise?"

"You've got a serious sister complex dude." Ryuma replied as he stood up, sloppily pointing his finger at Jay. "I get it, she's cute and talented but I don't think it's common practice to love your sister like that."

"Ew." Jay recoiled in disgust. "She's my younger sister, of course I care for her and want to see her but I'm not some freak. Also what the hell do you mean by 'she's cute'? You make any moves towards my sister and I will skin you and sell your scales on the black market."

Ryuma laughed. "That's if you can even cut them, you think these scales are for show? I may be weaker than most of my kin but my scales are pretty tough. I could take on a whole army of weaklings like you."

Jay slammed his hands on the table as he jumped to his feet. "If that's the case why don't you become a traveler. You never even considered it back in your younger days with how dangerous it is but you're an adult now. If you can take on a whole army of weeklings like me then you might be able to handle it, you can make money on the road and with enough time you might be able to strike it rich. Then you can come back and give me the promotion we both know I deserve. I mean, I practically run the place."

Ryuma smirked. "And after a couple years you'll finally be able to visit your sister. I'm not depressed enough to throw away my life. With all the hype your giving it maybe you should try it yourself, I'll support you by telling stories of your grand adventures upon your return." He chugged down the rest of the beer before setting his mug on the counter. "I won't become a traveler, that life isn't meant for me. See ya later Jay."

Jay sat back down and let out a sigh. 'If things keep going the way they are then I'll need to become a traveler, but I don't want to end up like her.' He looked around at the place he worked for the last year with a feeling of shame. 'If only I had studied like my sister, I could've gone to a good school and learned to protect myself, maybe find a substitute for magic." He stood up and left the bar, greeting the sun as he stepped into the light.

He began making his way towards his house, he wasn't walking for long when he heard a voice. "Hey Barkeep!" A man shouted as a group of five surrounded the young worker. "That booze you gave us last time made our friend sick, you better compensate."

Jay mentally clicked his tongue. "Isn't that something you should talk to my boss about"

"Your boss wasn't the one that gave us the booze."

"I'm sorry for your friend, if you'd like I could compensate you for the bottle and pay the medical fees."

The men began snickering. "You understand how to do business, we'll settle for your wallet."

Jay's rage began bubbling up as he reached into his pocket and gave them everything he had.

"31 silver and 45 copper coins." The bandit seemed disgusted.

"I don't think that would cover his fees, Damon." One of the lackeys spoke. "Last time I saw him, he was coughing up blood."

Damon grinned. "Oh no, if he dies it'll be all your fault." He laughed. "I know, give me that nice little thing around your neck and I think we can call it even."

"I can't do that." Jay growled. "It was my father's, you can take anything else but I can't give you this."

Damon just laughed more. "You idiots never understand, saying stupid shit like that just makes me want it more." He grabbed Jay by the hair, pulling him in as he kneed him in the stomach.

Jay felt the air leave his lungs as he fell to his knees clutching his stomach in pain. He looked up, seeing his own reflection through the silver of a knife. "Hand it over before I have to take it off your lifeless body. You know how it is in Silverfall nowadays, all those glorious guards have grown lazy. They won't notice a missing bar keep."

Jay stared up at him defiantly. "What the hell?" He spoke aloud. "You'd kill a man over a necklace?" Jay chuckled. "I guess what they say about orcs is true, you guys really are stupid."

"The idiot's gone crazy." Damon remarked. "He must not understand what death is." He flashed out his blade, cutting Jay across the cheek.

Jay felt a hot surge of pain, he watched as his blood fell to the floor. "At this point, fuck it. What point is there in living this dull life? If I die, I die. One thing though, Damon was it?" A sinister smile appeared on his face, his eyes shining for the first time in years as the rush that usually accompanied school brawls came back to him. "No matter how much I'm beaten, even when faced with death, I simply can't let go of my pride. It really is a weakness of mine. Point is, if you're going to kill me, so be it, but I'm not going out like a bitch. I tried being nice, gave you everything I had but you just had to push it." Jay reached into his pocket as he bit into a glowing flower, his pain fading as he rose to his feet.

The bandits readied their weapons as Damon gave the order. "Kill the idiot." His groupies dashed forward.

Jay ducked under a pole as he tripped one of the lackeys, he immediately shuffled back avoiding the swings of an unarmed bandit as he thought about how to survive the situation. 'The best way to survive would be to run and find a guard but my pride won't allow me to do that.' He dodged another swing from a bigger man with a crowbar grabbing his arm and putting all his strength into snapping it.

"Fuck!" The man yelled out in pain as he clutched his injured arm.

Jay cursed inwardly as he grabbed the crowbar. 'Fucking orcs, I'm too weak, I couldn't break it.' He swung out with the weapon catching a man across the jaw and knocking him unconscious.

"You idiots can't do anything." Damon began scratching his neck as he ran forward, knife in hand, his three downed allies leaving only one other person for him to work with. "Johnathan, do whatever it takes to hold him down."

His smaller companion dashed in with him as the two let out a barrage of swings. Jay was barely able to dodge their attacks as he struggled desperately to keep ahead of them. "Got you." A voice came from behind as the injured orcs rejoined the fight and grabbed hold of him. "You're good, but you brought this on yourself."

Jay tried to pull himself from their grip as Damon cut his necklace off. "You coward, can't fight me one on one?"

The Bandit leader lifted his arms as the others let go, he put his knife back in his pocket as he beckoned Jay forward. "Coward? No, I don't need them to beat a weakling like you. I simply don't feel like putting in much effort for something like this."

Jay rushed forward with a wide swing, Damon slid off the attack and delivered another knee to the barkeep's stomach. "You're far too young and far too weak to hope you can take on a real orc."

Jay landed a right hook directly on the man's face but the orc just smiled. "See, you're nothing but trash." The orc punched Jay across the jaw, sending him reeling as he delivered hit after hit, as he faded into unconsciousness he heard one last statement. "Not even worth killing." The group laughed as they walked off, leaving the beaten man passed out in the middle of the street.

.

"Jay… Jay… Jay! Wake up!" He heard someone call his name as he tiredly opened his eyes.

"Ryuma? How long was I out?"

"I don't know? I came back to open the shop and found you like this. What the hell happened to you?"

Jay got to his feet, clutching his stomach in pain, the moon shining overhead. "Some bastard bandit named Damon stole my necklace and beat me half to death while he was at it." Jay told him.

"Let me guess, this was a result of that pride of yours, because from what I know he's not the type to get messy."

"So you know him? Good, saves me the trouble of having to find him."

Ryuma leaned against a wall. "So what's the plan? I'd help but I have forsaken any kind of fighting, even in scenarios like this."

"Plan? I'm getting my father's necklace back no matter what it takes."

"Problem is, you're not strong enough." Ryuma playfully punched him. "How about I teach you some things, I can't fight anymore but I can at least help you out this way."

"When are you gonna get over the fear of fighting?" Jay asked as he limped towards his house.

"I'm not scared of fighting." Ryuma told him. "I just don't like the idea of hurting anybody."

Jay turned a corner. "I hate pacifists. You're not really saving anything by choosing not to cause harm."

"I don't like the sight of blood." Ryuma defended himself. "You of all people should understand why."

"Maybe if you used healing magic I'd let it go but just like the rest of your kind all you understand is fire."

"The rest of my kind has either moved away or died."

"Doesn't mean you couldn't learn how to heal if you're not gonna fight, Dragonkin are one of the most useful people on the battlefield and yet you choose to stay in the most boring city in the world."

"Do you want help or not?!" Ryuma snapped.

Jay walked up to a door, using his key to unlock it as he stepped into his home. "Obviously." He replied as he pulled the door closed. "Feel free to open the bar on your own!"

Ryuma sighed. "I need a drink."

Jay slammed his fist onto the kitchen table. "Fuck!" He stared off into the darkness as he thought about everything that went wrong today, he didn't think he'd win the fight but he hoped to win the 1v1. As it was he couldn't even take on a weak orc. He loathed himself for being born a human, entirely useless with nothing to offer, it was a wonder how the race managed to survive this long.

Jay dropped to the floor, ignoring the pain as he began working out. If he wanted to get stronger as a human he'd have to stick to the basics. A hundred push-ups, a hundred squats, things like that.

Jay woke up the next morning to a knock at the door, his body ached in protest from the beating he received. He got up from his bed heading to the kitchen and biting into a reyasu flower. The pain faded as he walked towards the door and opened it to a familiar face.

"Ryuma, you're up early." Jay yawned as he looked at the position of the sun in the sky. "What do you want, I'm not working till later tonight so don't expect me to come in early."

"Training." Ryuma replied simply.

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you I'd train you up a bit so you could get your necklace back. Now come on, we start with a run at first light. You got yesterday off work so I expect you to make up for that in your training."

Jay yawned. "I guess, let me put on some footwear, I'll be out in just a sec." A couple moments later, Jay returned and the two began to run.

"Nothing beats a morning run." Ryuma said happily.

"Maybe for you, I wasn't gifted with infinite energy." Jay replied panting despite the fact they barely started their run.

"Dragonkin don't have infinite energy, we still need to sleep one week out of the year." Ryuma reminded him.

"So infinite energy?" Jay repeated as the two picked up the pace.

"Next is a little sparring." Ryuma said as they finished their jog at a fountain in the middle of the city. "You'll be practicing dodging with the help of a flame specter." He snapped as a being made of fire rose from the ground. "This is a hellion, the demons of this world as you know from school. What you didn't know is that mages can Summon them if they have a high enough proficiency in a certain element. I use them to close up shop when you're not around to suffer." He laughed. "Survive for 5 minutes and we can move on. Its power has been lowered to that of an average human around your age."

"But I'm stronger than most people my age." Jay told him.

"Yeah well you can't use Magic so…" He trailed off as a ball made of fire flew past Jay's head.

Jay jumped back scrambling to dodge as more and more fireballs were thrown.

"Most people in our world can use magic, the fact you can't puts you at a significant disadvantage."

"Oh really?!" Jay snapped. "Why the hell are you trying to burn me alive? I'm human, my skin will melt."

"Don't worry, you're fast, you should be able to dodge a specter at that level." Ryuma laughed as he chugged down another bottle of alcohol.

Jay ducked as another flew over his head. "This is annoying." He jumped back towards the fountain, flowing his hand across the water drawing up a small wave as he threw it at the specter.

The creature was drenched, its molten skin losing its flames and turning to stone. "I won!" The man boasted as he shook the water out his braids.

"Water against fire? So cliche?" Ryuma smirked as he moved his hands and the specter roared to life. "Guess I'll up the difficulty then, try not to die." Jay immediately tried splashing more water on the specter but before it could even touch the creature, the water evaporated. "The heat surrounding its body is hot enough to melt ice in a second, unless you're a Naia or an annoying sea snake there's no way water is going to get past it."

Jay thought back to a couple years ago when he last saw Ryuma fight. He had been defeated by a water mage then. "It looks like you've been training your fire magic."

"Well obviously, I may not like to fight but the pursuit of strength is in my blood." Ryuma told him.

"Next!" Ryuma called out a couple minutes later. "With endurance and speed done we'll move on to strength and defense."

Jay panted dusting himself off as he stood up, his clothes singed from the many times he was nearly hit. "There's more?"

Ryuma flicked his hand as more specters rose from the ground. "We'll do heat resistance training as well as training your fist to punch stone, your strength will build naturally." Ryuma clapped and the specters once again began throwing fireballs. "Don't worry about burning, the flames are weakened, lukewarm at best. Though, they'll pack quite a punch."

Jay put his arms up, protecting his head as he was hit with a barrage of flames. The heat coming off it once again scorched his clothes and left his skin red. "These feel a bit hotter than lukewarm." He managed to cough out despite the lowering levels of oxygen in the air.

"Well I said it was heat resistance training didn't I?" Ryuma asked. "What I meant was that it's lukewarm for Dragonkin. With how weak your skin is it probably feels like you're being slowly cooked." The man laughed, Jay seeing his red eyes through the smoke.

"You don't have to enjoy it so much. I thought you didn't like fighting." Jay fell to his knees due to the pain, struggling to stop himself from passing out.

"I may not like fighting but it's always fun to see you in pain. Sucks that I'm the one causing that pain but hey, if you're hurt, I'm happy." After hearing those words, Jay finally fell unconscious.

"Hey, you're not done yet!" Ryuma yelled as he kicked his friend across the clearing into a wall. "Get up, training isn't over just yet."

Jay slid off the wall as he opened his eyes, his back feeling broken in several different places, he glared at Ryuma. "For the last time, I'm not dragonkin."

Ryuma shrugged. "An orc can handle at least this much, if you can't, you'll never get your necklace back. You don't have time so we have to speedrun your training in the most painful way possible."

Jay tried getting to his feet but collapsed to the floor again. "I'm stopping here." Jay told him. "I need some rest."

Ryuma cut in. "Not happening, take some Reyasu and get up. It's time for combat training."

Jay dug into his pockets and bit into the blue flower. "Damn dragonkin. You lizards are always overworking people."

Ryuma scowled at me. "Don't compare me to them, they're weaklings. Not even able to use their wings or fire magic."

"Y'all are from the same race." Jay reasoned.

"But of different tribes." Ryuma explained. "What if I compared you to those pale faced humans in the castle?"

"I don't see why it matters, human is human."

"You wouldn't understand, those fish freaks and those earth lizards are nothing compared to the majesty of the sky dragon clan." He boasted.

"You mean the same clan that abandoned you as a child when half the clan was wiped out?" Jay asked incredulously.

"If I was a weaker man, that would've hurt. My clan was forced away when the shark food and the lizards teamed up to drive us out. I barely made it to silverfall when they drew back due to it being neutral territory." Ryuma explained.

"Yea and then a nice old man took you in and raised you." Jay sighed. "I know what happened, no need to remind me every other week. At this point I'd rather do the training."

Ryuma shrugged. "Alright then, try and stop me." He grinned as he dashed forward slamming his tail against the weaker man.

.

Two weeks passed…

Jay opened his eyes, his entire body aching from the workouts he'd been doing recently. Every step felt like he was moving in 30 times gravity and yet he knew Ryuma would be here for training at any second. It didnt help that they closed at dawn just to wake up at noon. He walked into his kitchen, biting into a flower as the bitter juices flowed into his mouth. His fatigue and pain immediately vanished as energy flowed through his body. He grabbed a few more of the flowers, making sure to pack some for the day.

The familiar sight of the silver castle greeted him as he stepped outside, its walls stretching far above the other buildings. "Fucking nobles." He whispered under his breath. He both hated and respected the rich, he respected the work it took to get there but hated what they did once they made it. Usually they grew lazy and inactive which was in stark contrast to the other reason he hated them. They always reminded him of Aria, the girl that had left senior year to become a traveler. She was of noble lineage but gave it all up because she loved fighting.

Jay clicked his tongue as he started walking. 'How else can I get stronger? I don't have magic.'

"Hey Jay!" A voice shouted as Ryuma ran towards him. "Let's start our run!" He laughed as he blew past him.

Jay turned instantly and dashed after him, gaining on him with ease. "Looks like I finally surpassed you in something." He gloated as he took the lead down the familiar path towards the fountain.

When Ryuma caught up he laughed as he took a drink. "Your physical speed has finally surpassed mine, however with mana I can move much faster. Let's continue." Ryuma summoned ten specters as they all began throwing fireballs at once. "You got close yesterday, let's see how you handle it today."

Jay weaved around the fireballs with expert precision, they were moving much slower than any arrow that he ever saw but it was still such a huge accomplishment for him. He smacked away those that he couldn't dodge and let the ones he couldn't hit singe his skin, his skin finally tough enough after a week of torture to withstand the weak flames. He dropped low in an instant and dashed forward maneuvering around the flames as he caught up to one of the specters, punching them in the chest and breaking through it with ease and smashing its core. He continued this approach as he dealt with each and every one until he was the last thing standing in a sea of flames. "Whoo!" Jay cheered as he dusted himself off. "I got it before passing out for once, I finished it up just in time." He coughed, the smoke and flames dissipating.

"Good work." Ryuma congratulated him. "Let's move on to the last part, as always I won't activate my scales or any magic. If you can force me to use either then you'll be able to beat Damon even if he has some tricks up his sleeve. Are you ready?"

Jat nodded, sliding into an unconventional stance. "Whenever you are."

Ryuma exploded forward starting with the same attack he always did. Jay stepped back avoiding the tail as he dashed in landing a punch on Ryuma's chest. "You're doing pretty well." Ryuma praised him as he took the punch and replied with a kick.

Jay threw up his arms, the heavy attack of the dragonkin nearly breaking his arms as he took the attack. Jay slid back but stood his ground as Ryuma rushed forward with a barrage of punches. The human fighter dodged each attack but was caught across the cheek by the sharp edges of Ryuma's gauntlet. As he saw his blood fall to the ground, he only grew more and more fierce. A smile spread across his face as he danced backwards.

'There it is again.' Ryuma thought. 'He's letting the rush of battle get to him. Just like he did when we were kids.' The dragon-like man saw the blood falling from his friend's face and visibly recoiled. He had been careful not to make him bleed over this last week, anytime he had gotten close to bleeding Ryuma would immediately cauterize the wound with his flames. He hated the sight of blood spilling.

In his moment of weakness, Ryuma threw a sloppy attack. Jay swiftly dodged and circled his friend getting behind him, putting his full strength into knocking Ryuma into the fountain. As he hit the water, Ryuma immediately snapped back to reality as he began to panic, unable to breathe. His flames flared up, his scales activating as the water around him instantly evaporated. He immediately turned on his attacker, his mind giving away as he saw someone else where Jay was supposed to be. A woman, her hair dark like a crow's feather and her once blue eyes now charred away by his flames. She screamed out in pain as water began condensing around the area in a false attempt to heal it, realizing it wouldn't work the water turned to ice and blasted at Ryuma.

Ryuma jumped back in fear trying to muster up his flames but was overloaded by the rain of ice and knocked down to his knees, a sword of ice against his neck.

"I should kill you." The woman said. "All I wanted was to leave but you tried forcing me to stay." Blood fell from the woman's side, a wound Ryuma left on her previously. "I understand you're worried but I can handle myself." She snarled as she walked away.

"Ryuma. Ryuma!" Jay shouted as he shook his friend awake. "You alright, you blanked out after destroying the fountain. We should probably go before the guards find out what happened."

Ryuma struggled to his feet, his fear making his body heavy. "I'm fine, you won. There's something you should know, I'll tell you as we walk, I wasn't going to tell you if you lost."

"Okay, what is it?" Jay asked.

"There's a problem, the knights caught wind of Damon's crimes after he tried to rob a noble's niece. He was kicked out of Silverfall."

"He what?"

"He tried to rob a Nobel's niece and was kicked out, that means your necklace is no longer in the city." Ryuma told him.

Jay growled as his anger inched to the surface, he let out a heavy sigh, calming himself. "Then I'm going after it."

"Figured you'd say that. You're not gonna survive out there. You're human with barely any training." Ryuma grabbed hold of his shoulders. "That's why I didn't want to tell you, I can go after it myself. That's what you wanted originally right? I can get it back for you."

Jay denied him immediately. "No, you made it clear that you don't wish to fight again, and it's pretty obvious from what happened today that you're still affected by what happened with the water mage. Even just a bit of water will send you into a panic."

"I'll be fine, I just won't let the water touch me." He argued.

Jay shook his head. "I promise you I'll return once I've found it. You've known me for a while, I'm far too prideful to accept help from someone who denied me of it before."

Ryuma smiled. "You're right, I won't stop you. Just know that if you die, I'm taking your sister from you. You better live to make sure she doesn't fall to my charms."

"If I die and don't retrieve the necklace my sister will bring me back to life just to beat my ass. When she does, I'll make sure to beat yours for overstepping." Jay retorted.

"Well if you're going, take this with you." Ryuma took off his gauntlets and handed them over. "They're made with dragonscale, it's nearly impossible to break and it weighs almost nothing, besides I have no use for them anymore."

"Thanks." Jay accepted them, putting on the white berserker gauntlets. "By the way, I quit. This crappy job isn't worth it. Try running a business without me." Jay laughed, walking off towards the main gate, he vowed to himself to make this fast, he'd return before the year was over.

As Jay neared the gate, a voice called for him to stop. "You know the rules."

"I'll be back." Jay told them.

"If you wish to leave you need a pass for re-entry which means you need to pay the fee."

"I don't have any money on me."

"Then you can't leave, if you do we won't be able to let you back in. You'll be out there forced to live as a lone traveler, an outcast with no home to return to."

"Are there no other options?" Jay asked.

Another guard stepped up to speak. "If you're going to become a traveler you might as well sign with silverfall, we'll ask you to do tasks from time to time and the money you receive will be used to continue paying residency. Your house will still be there when you return. We will provide you with a traveler pass which allows access to all cities on the map."

Jay shrugged. "Then let's do that, I don't plan on being gone for too long."

The knight retreated into a building beside the walls and grabbed a few things. "We need you to sign here and then you'll be allowed your pass and be free to leave as soon as you take one of our requests."

Jay followed along, signing the papers before being directed to a wall with a list of jobs on it. He read the list finding one that was nearest to the closest village. "I'll take the mining job and bring back some silver."

"Alright, here's your pass. You have a month to complete your task and return. Your residency will be taken care of while you're away, good luck." The knights bowed as the massive gates of silverfall opened. Jay walked out and looked down at the steep path spiraling down the large bluff that raised the city above the surrounding tundra.

"Here goes, I guess." He took another bite out of the reyasu, making his way out into the world for the first time in his life, a messenger bird flying overhead making its way to his house to drop off a letter.

[Dear Jay

I know it's been awhile since I last sent a messenger but school has been kind of crazy, I've learned a lot. I'll be back home to visit for the day of gifts.

-From, Kura]