A hero's fate

Dex's eyes burned as he stared at the holy lady of Tingxun sect. In his mind, he remembered all the divination magicians that he had come across, and he also recalled the fact that many of them had fallen on his blade. Of course, back then, he was taking it as his duty to eliminate evil and save human kind. 

Now, he knew better. In fact, it might not be so bad to recruit a few to work for him as he became more powerful. They were a useful tool in the game of deceit and controlling one's enemy. 

"You hate my kind, is that why you have an arrow pointing towards my heart? Do you intend to kill me?" the holy lady asked him. 

From a distance, they appeared to be standing so close and engaged in a friendly conversation. Only those who were close close enough would be able to see the reflection of the arrow head whose tip was pressed against the outer layer of the holy lady's dress. 

"It's an old habit." Dex replied with a smile. 

He really had to wipe old habits out of his system as well otherwise he might change nothing and repeat his past. 

"You have the fate of a hero." she told him. 

Dex chuckled, pulled his hand out of hers and leaned his head back against the carriage.

"A hero," he said and laughed. "Me, a hero!!" 

The holy lady thought that maybe it was because he did not her that he was laughing in such a self deprecating manner. 

"I cannot read anything else from your palms which is very unusual. Perhaps, you can give me a drop of your blood and I will tell you more about your future. I don't know who you have met before but divination magic is pure and truthful."

"No thank you, I intend to write my own fate. Nobody is going to tell me what fate has store for me." he rolled his eyes and sneered. 

"A hero's fate, that's bull shit, I Dex Atticus loathe heroes. Heroism is a disease, one that affects foolish men who seek self righteous glory. 

Look around you sweetheart, in our world, there is no such thing as a righteous mage. Even the best of them have taken a life, be it in self defense or anger. " 

The holy lady raised her lips in a smile and Dex noticed the small black mole on the corner of her upper lip. 

"Beautiful." he said. He raised his hand and touched her face, rubbing his thumb against her cheek.

She stepped back, away from him with a frown on her face. 

"A holy lady must be pure and unsullied, you should control yourself." she said in an angry voice. 

"Mmm, now I am bored." Dex said. 

He looked at the mages who were still glaring at him and he said, "The price has gone up, six thousand gold." 

"How dare you? You dirty kid, do you think that I did not see you touching the flawless skin of our holy lady? It is a crime, one for which you deserve death." The elder mage Junxia bellowed in a deep angry voice and the balls of flames in both of his hands doubled in size. 

"You fire mages, you have such nasty tempers." Dex, looking totally unbothered, said this calmly, and then he vanished. 

When he reappeared, it was behind the water mage whose ice spear had been aimed at his heart when the fight initially started. 

The others had a loud cry and the water mage fell down to the ground, holding his chest and bleeding. Blood was coming out from his mouth as well. 

They had a mage in the group with healing power and she quickly went to attend to the water mage. 

Dex vanished and returned to where he had been, next to the holy lady. "Oops, he almost got me in the heart back then and I have been waiting for an opportunity to get my revenge. I don't forgive easily, so elder fire ball, if you aim, make sure that I die because if I live, you die."

On the surface, looked calm and unbothered but deep down, he was hoping that they would pay and he would leave as soon as possible. All this teleporting back and forth had exhausted him. He did not think that he could do it more than five more times. 

He was still a level one magician at the end of the day and he would run out of energy soon. 

His saving grace was the fact that none of them had seen a space magician before. 

"Pay him." The holy lady said. 

"Lady Miao." elder Junxia gasped. 

"But we are taking the snakes." The holy lady added. 

Dex shrugged and threw them down on the ground and he held his hand out. 

The Tingxun sect was wealthy, they had three elemental stone mines on their property. They also had auction houses, herb gardens, weapon and armor shops. They could afford six thousand gold easily and in fact, Dex had a feeling that he had asked for too little. 

The elder handed him a space bag and Dex looked inside. 

"If I find even one coin missing, I will find you and I will kill you. I do not like being cheated." he whispered to the elder. 

Then, he tilted his head toward the holy lady and whispered, "Tell your father the holy lord of Tingxun that in one year, I Dex Atticus will pay the Tingxun sect a visit. I will be coming for a boy named Solo, if I find him harmed in any way, the rain and wind in your sect will be bloody and I alone will wipe Tingxun out of existence." 

He touched her cheek again, winked and vanished. 

Lady Miao was left very confused and she looked at the elder Junxia. "Elder, who in our sect is named Solo?" 

The elder shook his head, and shrugged. 

"Why do you ask?" he responded. 

"Nothing." she said, and she looked around as if she she was searching for someone. 

She had a feeling that the space mage whose name was Dex Atticus, meant every word that he said. She was certainly more powerful than he was but when he made that threat, she had felt a small sliver of fear penetrating her heart. 

For a while when that arrow was pointed to her chest she thought he would push it in, his eyes certainly looked crazy enough to do it. Had a mage that was at level one really killed before? Why was he frightening otherwise?

Elder Junxia frowned and clenched his fists when he noticed her behavior. The holy lady had to be looking for that red haired bastard who was cheeky just because he was a puny mage with the power to run and hide while attacking like a coward. 

The Tingxun lord would hear about this red haired mage that dared to touch the holy lady of their sect and sully her. 

"Let's go." Lady Miao said.