Silent Lukki

"What's that *boda's* problem, anyway? His face hasn't moved a lick. Not even a frown!"

Lukki pretended not to notice the bloodthirsty gaze tossed his way and continued to stroke a small campfire with his bare hands.

A little down the hall of this dungeon, a rhythmic cycle of pants and grunts polluted the air. However, the two adventurers surrounding Lukki pretended not to notice.

'She isn't screaming anymore.' he thought, 'I suppose she's given up.'

Lukki didn't feel any particular urge to help Ling. After all, he was only with these people to acquire information.

The man across from him, Conrad, spoke next.

"A'tcha, be careful what you say around our pathfinder, Rin."

"Why should I care what I say around that deaf cunt? He's almost the size of a goblin, ya'ar."

"Ubo's are mute, not deaf. How d'you become a mid-ranker with such an absence of common knowledge?"

"First off, its common *sense*. Secondly, watch what you say around ME you-"

Heavy footsteps interrupted the argument before it could fester.

"Stop it, lads."

Welin, the leader of their group, held up his hand, and the two adventurers shut their mouths. He was a sizeable oaf with one scar running the length of his face- from cheek to cheek. As he sat down, Lukki took note of the satisfied smile he was trying to hide.

He held a young girl in his free arm. She was a theif, named ling, who apparently stole a great deal of money from Welin. Her eyes were dull, like the limestone walls of the dungeon, and her once-neat hair fell into disarray. She wore rags and cheap sandals, which were falling at the seams. Welin pulled her onto the ground beside him and leaned one arm over her back.

"Save the bickering for when we're home. [Grand Void] ain't the place to make enemies out of comrades."

Rin grumbled, taking up his skewer of Dokki meat and tearing into the seasoned flesh. The other man, Conrad, leaned his back against a fuzzy log and pulled a cap over his eyes.

"Don't mind them, Lukki." Welin creased his face into a genuine smile, aimed at the small boy with fire dancing in his eyes.

Lukki knew what was behind that smile, so he maintained his mask of apathy.

"You want a turn of this'n?" Welin rubbed Ling's hair with one hand, then pushed her towards Lukki.

Her hands shot out, breaking her fall, before she stood and took a seat beside him. Lukki dared not look at her, since her piercing stare always unnerved him. It was as if she accused him of letting this happen to her.

"It's not good for a kid your age to be so dour, you know." Welin sighed, offering a flask of elderberry ale. "Come on, lad. Have a quench."

Lukki hesitated, but eventually gave into the temptation of alcohol. He tipped the bottle back, letting the bitter fluid hit the back of his tongue with relish.

"Well, I'll be... You can smile after all." Welin laughed, noticing the faint upturn of the pathfinder's lips as he enjoyed the potent grog.

Lukki passed the bottle to Ling next, who disregarded its existence. He shrugged and turned towards Rin, who's face contorted in surprise.

"T-thanks, I guess."

After a deep drink, the stocky, bald man turned to face him again. This time with a red-bulbed nose.

"Don't mind what I said earlier. I just miss my girl back home, you know."

Lukki nodded.

As the alcohol took effect, so did his metabolism. He could only enjoy the drunken state for a few minutes before his Ubo training sobered him back up.

They passed the bottle between themselves a few times, before Conrad joined in on the fun.

"Thankee. It's been a while since I've traveled this deep."

Most adventurers would only journey into portals connected directly to the spire, since there were identification rings. There was no way to know what one might run into without those rings, unless they had a pathfinder artifact or a specific skill.

The former was expensive, and required one to learn the complex technique required to read them, and the latter was a rare skill which few people in Nornenheim had.

Still, if a party was lucky enough to have a pathfinder, they would need to protect that person with their life. When people became lost in the ever-changing labyrinths of [Grand Void], there was little chance of them coming back.

"Last time was to train the new artifact user, a university bloke from the Ulin Empire."

"What was an artifact user from Ulin doing by the northern Greatwood?"

"[Raincloud] Contracted him for a pretty penny. They don't skimp on valuable assets like that."

Welin nodded, interjecting with his opinion.

"That guy could ask for any price he wanted. Real reason he came to Nornenheim was to live with his woman."

The three guild members chuckled. It wasn't common knowledge, but a few people knew [Raincloud]'s nefarious way of acquiring new talent. They had scouts spread across the slums of the eastern continent who recruited poverty-stricken people with pleasant features, and trained them in the art of seduction.

"Poor bloke."

After a hearty laugh, they quieted down and thought in silence about that gullible pathfinder, who would surely wake up alone one day, with no recollection of the girl he fell in love with, and a powerful urge to stay with [Raincloud].

"Stuff like that makes me thankful for my lack of talent." Rin lamented.

"You said it." Conrad agreed. "Least I know when someone likes me for who I am."

"So... no one?"

"Fuck off, cunt."

The three three chuckled as if there'd been no hostility to begin with. Lukki and Ling remained silent, without so much as a spark of humor in their eyes.

As Lukki was sobering up, those three were just starting down the path of inebriation. So he backed from the fire, lay down, and closed his eyes. However, he wasn't planning to sleep.

He listened as their drinking continued, and as they forced Ling away twice more, before they finally got bored with her. She settled down a way's away from the three.

Perhaps because of their drunken state, only Lukki noticed the bloodlust leaking from her aura.

'So, she didn't give up after all.' He suppressed a smile.

Their laughing and joking continued for a half-hour or so, until they figured Lukki had fallen asleep. Suddenly, the conversation took a serious turn.

"How's that tiny kid not pass out right away after drinking so much?"

"*Boda* is built like a dwarf, no? Short, but can handle his drink well."

"Not as well as us, hah."

The sound of daggers unsheathing punctuated Rin's solemn chuckle.

"Hold up one second, Rin. Are we sure that the portal over there leads to the Underbelly? We should only off the cunt if we're sure."

"It's an onyx portal, mate. Theres no chance of it being anything else."

"Aye." Welin agreed. "but we shouldn't off him now. Demons like fresh meat, and Metis told us to bring Azel a gift. He's the demon who'll help us find the missing shard, that Neto bloke, as well as the portal back to Nornenheim."

Lukki swallowed. This was the last bit of information he was trying to find: the demon who could help him find his brother, Toru. He continued to listen as his three traveling companions spilled more confidential information.

"We cant use that bitch for fresh meat?" Rin asked.

Welin's eyes narrowed to feral points.

"Just because I let you 'ave a turn of her, doesn't mean she ain't mine. No one decides what to do with her besides me, got it?"

After an awkward silence, Conrad broke the tension with a change of topic.

"Ahem- So, Metis... What's so special about him? I don't remember that bloke doing anything worthy of a promotion."

"Best not question Relin's decision, mate. Unless you want to end up like that 'Rupert' creep."

"What happened to him, anyway? All I heard was that he got replaced..."

"Lotta rumors about what really happened. Metis was the one who observed it personally. If you want to know, ask him when we return."

"Fair enough."

As Welin prepared a needle and nuzzled it into Ling's arm, Rin sheathed his daggers and lay down. Conrad followed suit. Before long, all four were sleeping.

Lukki was finally free to smile.

'Thank you for the information, *boda's*.' he thought, mocking the thick Northern accent of the three.

This would be his last night listening to their talks about SUN and [Raincloud]. The last night Ling would be tormented by them.

When he was sure they wouldn't wake, Lukki stood, as silent as a wraith, and walked over to Rin. That ugly, ogre-like man was sleeping like a baby.

He placed his hand on the man's neck and drew a line with his finger from one end to the other. After a few seconds, a red wake followed, bubbling with more blood than a scratch could produce on its own. That was because Rin's head had separated from its body.

He repeated this process one more time, then observed his grim work. Thankfully, the floor on this branch was dirt. Otherwise there would've been quite a mess forming under his boots.

'Now then,.'

Lukki observed the last living guild member, Welin, who 's face still contorted in smug satisfaction.

'I wonder if Ling will be satisfied with this gift.'