The Apprentice.

Edward looked at the elven girl, Meriel, with a surprised look.

She was bowing deeply to him and asking to be his disciple… Of course he'd be surprised!

"Oh, boy… this can end one of two ways…" Edward said with a hand over his forehead.

Meriel straightened up, looking at Edward with expectation.

"Haaaa…" He sighed, "See here Meriel, for one I could simply start talking with you, as I plan my masterful escape of jumping through the window, or…" Edward said as he rummaged through his small bag.

"Or?" Meriel asked, tilting her head to the side.

"…" Edward stood silently as they both looked at eachother's eyes.

"Yeah honestly I got nothing." He said and took out a small black ball from his bag, slamming it into the ground and creating a huge smoke screen that enveloped the entire room.

"Ehhh!? Master!" Meriel yelled out, confused by the sudden loss of vision, she tried to look for Edward but the only thing she heard was glass shattering as Edward jumped out of the window.

"Sorry Meriel! I don't feel like having a student at the moment! Those things require maintenance!" Edward yelled out as he glided through the air, as if he was weightless.

A ring on his right hand was glowing with a pale cyan blue color, presumably the item which helped him achieve that feat.

After landing perfectly on his two feet, he started running down the streets.

"W-Wait for me!" The elf yelled out jumping out the window while holding her bed sheets overhead.

She, just like Edward before, glided through the air while a pale cyan blue color could be seen glowing from her sheets.

Anyone who saw it up close would realize that the blue glow was being emitted by runes, written over the sheets themselves.

"Hey! You're a fine enchanter already if you can make an item like that!" Edward said as he continued running from Meriel who was gliding towards him from afar.

"I can't though, my mom made this for me! Hehe!" She said, flashing a bright smile and chuckling

"Well your mom must be a fine enchanter then!" He grumbled and turned a corner.

Meriel landed just at that corner, her bed sheet turning into a coat that was immediately worn by her.

She turned towards the corner only to see Edward running up the walls!

His boots had runes placed on the bottom, glowing a pale blue color!

Edward ran up, jumping from the wall up to the other building's roof.

"Mister Graves please wait for me!" Meriel shouted, only to be ignored.

Her boots in turn also shined, but this time from the sides.

With a running start, Meriel jumped off the ground and on to the roof where Edward was.

"Damn, you're quite persistent ain't cha?" He said, chuckling a bit with a grin.

"I have been told that, yes." Meriel smiled, placing her hands behind her back and leaning back a bit.

"Will you please take me on as your apprentice?" She asked again.

"Hm… This could end one of tw-" Before Edward could repeat his previous masterful plan, Meriel already started running towards him.

"Hey, hey! The disciple is supposed to listen and pay attention to their master!" Edward said with a finger raised up, as if he was giving a lecture and slowly leaned backwards falling off the roof to another alleyway!

"Stop running from me!" Meriel yelled out as if she was pleading him, jumping down towards him.

What she didn't expect was that once Edward hit the ground, a sudden force knocked him back into the air like a trampoline! His cloak glowing in turn with the same blue hue the other items had.

"Huh!? That's not fair!" Meriel blurted out as Edward was launched into the air, passing right by her and arriving back to the roof top.

When Meriel landed on the ground she looked back up to see Edward looking over her.

"I do hope we meet again, my dear disciple, adios!" He said with a courtesy like bow and ran away over the roof tops.

"Wait! Mister Graves!" Meriel yelled at him but he was already running far away at high speeds.

Meriel's boots started shining once more, and she attempted another jump.

However, just as she was lifting herself off the ground, Meriel was stopped short as her boot enchantment gave out and she fell face first onto the ground.

"Ouch…" she barely muttered, holding her nose with both hands.

'I didn't break it did I…?' Meriel thought as she tried to stand back up.

"Haaaaaa…" Meriel sighed, 'He's long gone by now… stupid boots had to break just then didn't they...?' She thought to herself, as she looked at her boots.

The spots on the sides where the runes were supposed to be were charred and ripped. A common occurrence when an amateur enchanter makes a mistake during the enchanting process.

"Great! I need new boots now…" She muttered to herself and started turning around to walk towards the main street.

What she didn't expect was getting grabbed from behind, a hand over her mouth and others grabbing her by the arms.

"MMmm! MmmMM!" She protested, struggled but to no avail, she couldn't do anything.

Two people had grabbed ahold of her. One was a man from the lizard folk who was standing about a head taller than Meriel, the other was a bald, skinny human with a weird looking eye.

"So you're that guy's apprentice huh?" A male voice spoke as someone walked towards them from the dark alleyway.

"We got er boss! She ain't moving an inch from here now, hehehe…" The bald man said.

"Haha, good job lackey B!" The voice said "Now then, lackey A, let the girl speak…" He continued, addressing the lizard man as he showed himself from within the shadows.

It was a human man with many scars all over his face, a burnt mark from his entire left cheek to behind his left ear.

The lizard man let go of Meriel's mouth allowing her to breathe again.

"Cough, cough," She coughed "Damn, do you clean that hand with horse doo? It smells horrible!" Meriel said, glaring at the lizard man who was still holding one of her arms.

"Shut yer mouth up lass! Ya ain't in no position to be spouting bullshit!" Lackey B, as the scarred man called him, said.

"Tsk… What do you what?" Meriel said, her visage was akin to a hardened warrior's, much different to how she acted before.

"Feisty girl ain't cha?" The scarred man said, grabbing her by the chin and staring at her dead in the eyes from up close.

"Where is that Enchanter, Edward? Yeah, I think that was his name right Lackey B?" He asked the bald man.

"Aye sir, boss sir! That's the name I heard the Dwarf bar owner call him by earlier!" He replied

"Mmm, bless your ridiculous hearing ability lackey B. Anyway, speak girl! Where is your teacher!" The scarred man yelled at Meriel.

She simply spat at his face, hitting him dead in the left eye which made him stumble back a bit.

"Ugh! You bitch!" He yelled out and slapped her hard across the face, the two lackeys let her go at the same time as their boss hit her and she fell to the ground.

"Maybe your screams will lure that teacher of yours out ey? Perhaps he'd be familiar with them! Ghehehe!" The lizard man spoke up, a sneer plastered over his face.

Meriel's face darkened, she might have been putting up a brave front up until now but in reality she was quite scared ever since she got grabbed by these strangers.

"Hehehe" The bald man giggled loudly as he licked his lips, moving closer towards the elven girl.

"G-Get away from me!" She yelped, moving backwards using her hands and legs.

She started trembling, but the defiance in her eyes could still be seen through the fear.

"Don't worry lass, it will all end soon~" The scarred man said while trying to speak with a gentle voice, albeit failing terribly at it.

"Sheesh, and here I was trying to run away from you… Now you're the one who's caught?" Edward appeared up over at the roof, sitting at the edge where he had been before he ran away originally.

"Ah! Edward the Enchanter guy! Finally, been trying to find ya, you see…" The Scarred face guy said.

"Well, you found me… Wassup?" He asked, walking down the wall slowly towards the ground, as if gravity didn't affect him.

"Cool!~" The bald guy uttered in amazement, which got him on the receiving end of a slap behind the head from the lizard man.

"Well you see, my dear friend here overheard your conversation with Korgen back at the tavern. He has good ears you see…" Scar face said while pointing to the bald guy, who was waving his hand to say hello.

"We want that thunder stick of yours. As well as the design and method of making it! And if you don't give it to us…" Scar face pointed towards Meriel, who currently had a knife placed at her neck by the lizard man.

Edward frowned, his hand moved towards his belt.

"Oh! You mean this stick?" Edward said, taking his flintlock pistol out.

"Yes! That's the one! Hahaha I knew we'd come to a deal! Now your disciple's life, for the stick plea-" Before Scar face could even finish his sentence, a loud thunder like sound was heard throughout the alleyway and even the main street.

Smoke oozed out of the pistol's barrel, as the lizard man fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead.

"W-w-w-WHaT a-ARE YOU DOING!?" The scarred man yelled out with a stutter at Edward who slowly reloaded his pistol with another bullet.

"Hello?! We have a hostage! Lackey B! You're promoted to Lackey A now go grab that girl and hold her hostage!" Scar face blurted out orders while frantically moving his hands around.

"R-Right! On it boss, sir boss!" The bald man said quickly in a rushed manner and moved towards Meriel.

"Well, usually when you take a hostage, it would be someone the person you're extorting actually cares about. I met her like ten minutes ago you know?" Edward explained, now having reloaded his gun he pulled the trigger making another thunder like sound fly throughout the alleyways.

The bald man died before he could even reach Meriel, a bullet piercing through his weird looking eye and forcing him to the ground.

"…" Scar face stood there for a moment, silent. "We could work this out now can't we mister Edward? Hehe…" He said in a slow pleading manner, rubbing his hands together and smiling.

"Oh yeah, sure! Let's shake hands on it!" Edward replied with a smile, extending his hand towards the man, awaiting a handshake.

"Ah! Yes, yes! Let's shake hands like civilized men do! Yes…" The scarred man said and grabbed ahold of Edward's hand with both of his.

Suddenly a strong shock hit him, zapping him through his hands and reaching his entire body in an instant!

All of his hair stood on end as his hands suffered burnt marks!

The force was so strong in fact, that he got sent flying into the other building's wall! Crashing through it like a cannon ball!

"Seriously… Are all crooks in this city THAT stupid?" Edward said, removing his torn glove.

What he had used on the man just now, was an only one-time useable, but powerful enchantment.

Such items are meant as consumables, which significantly empowers their abilities!

Not to be confused with an incompetent enchanter's boots however.

"Hey, Meriel right?" Edward said, walking towards the girl who was shacking on the ground.

"You put up quite the brave front there, honestly thought you'd be able to handle yourself for a second!" He continued, smirking at the girl who simply looked up at him silently.

"Haaaa," He sighed. "Can you stand?" Edward extended his hand towards Meriel, awaiting for her to take it.

Surprisingly, the meek girl quickly and suddenly disappeared in front of his eyes as she latched onto his hand.

"I gotchu!" Meriel yelled out, grabbing his hand and standing up quickly.

She then wrapped both of her hands around him and refused to let go.

"Erm… Miss Venna? Would you mind letting me go?" Edward asked, slightly discomforted to be hugged by a stranger so suddenly.

"No! I was scared and now I need a hug!" She pouted

"What are you? Five?!" Edward was genuinely surprised at her behavior.

"Hehe! Besides, if I let you go you'd just run off again." Meriel said as she turned her face towards him.

She was almost a head shorter than Edward, who stood at about 183 cm tall (6ft) putting her at about 171 cm tall (5 6 ft.)

"I caught you now, so will you please accept me as your student!" She asked earnestly

"…Haaaa," Edward couldn't help but sigh once more. "Why do you want me of all people to teach you?" He asked her.

"Well, I didn't have a better option really… Hehe…" She said, a soft chuckle escaping from under her palm.

"Huh, well what about that mother of yours? She made the floaty coat bed sheets thing didn't she?" Edward asked.

"Ah… That's…" Meriel said, pausing for a moment. "I don't really know where she is…"

"…" Edward looked at her silently as she held on to him tighter, looking down with a sad expression plastered over her face.

"Haaaa," He sighed. "Fine. I'll take you on as my disciple…"

Meriel suddenly raised her head up towards Edward, a beaming smile appearing on her face!

"Really? You really truly mean it?" She asked getting more excited by the minute.

"Yes, I mean it." Edward said with a smile.

"Yay!~" She yelled out in excitement, letting Edward go and hopping into the air.

Whatever reasons Edward may have had to accept her, be it to escape the awkward hug or to move away from the scene with three dead bodies before anyone turns up...

He most certainly…

Had his reasons…