Rumors

In the reapers guild, a rumor spread among the lower-ranked gang members. Ingram the feared had been killed! An executive of the reaper gang had been killed by a lackey of another person in the gang.

Those rumors spread throughout the entire gang and the underworld at the speed of a forest fire and before long almost everybody in the underworld was talking about it.

Some people felt fear, they were the people who were in the territory of Engram. They lived their lives under his rule they stole in his name, they killed in his name and they did many more deeds in his name.

Now the seat of the executive was empty and Engram's territory was left unchecked. As the rumor spread, sudden acts of violence rose in his territory, the enforcers that acted as order keeping people, wandered around separated and confused as their chain of command crumbled when their head was cut off.

A few people heard the news, and instead of fearing about what was going to happen to the territory and the people. They asked another question.

"who killed him?"

That question circulated around the upper ranks of the underworld, as they started to turn their eyes towards the empty seat at the reapers upper echelon. Whoever sat on that empty seat would gain power and riches over many parts of the underworld of Herdita and many coveted it.

Jason and Rocky's attempts to spread Jack's name both worked and failed at the same time. While the lackeys that Jason had beat up did spread Jack's fearsome name. The information only got around to their respective circles and even if it spread the information got filtered out to what the common gang member would worry about. Their leader had been killed.

The common lackey wouldn't have heard about Jack's name but instead that their leader had fallen to a monstrous warrior. Which was both good and bad to Jack and Jason's reputation.

But Jason's little plan also worked. Those who were curious after a bit of digging could find out about Jack.

Most of those people sought out Jack and information about him, were in want of protection, or maybe even a position of power, under what seemed to be the rising new executive in the reapers gang.

Some went to Jack thinking they had nowhere to go. Others did so in the search for power.

In a way it acted as a filter, only those who sought the information on their own would learn about Jack and possibly even seek him out. Leaving the rest behind expecting to hear about it in rumors.

So in the end it was both a good thing and a bad thing with how things turned out.

Jack now sat in the middle of Engram's territory sitting on some steps as he looked down on a group of 20 people all kneeling down in a subservient manner.

The huge men that Perseus had "tamed" a while ago stood next to Jack holding huge clubs and swords while looking at the shivering people with eyes that looked like a predator eyeing its prey.

In the background, Jack's friends also sat quietly watching as the group of 20 lower ranked gang members pledged their allegiance to Jack.

They didn't move though they had a giddy feeling inside their stomachs.

They had once been the ones kneeling.

But they weren't stupid, they had seen the ones in their positions be brutally murdered while everyone else didn't bat an eye at them. They had seen the ones sitting in the position Jack sat at, fall down to the level where even a hobo wouldn't touch them.

They knew, and they had seen what all this meant, and they were determined that they wouldn't let Jack fall into a state like that.

Their gratitude for Jack and his master was growing daily, and they wanted to repay it somehow. Every day when they went out with Jack to hunt monsters and pick herbs. They saw so much about life that they could never see back in the slums.

The feeling of the warm sun shining down on their skin. The quiet and harmonious sounds of nature. The sense of joy and exploration without having the worry of finding food for the day.

Gratitude was the only thing they could feel as they looked at Jack who sat far in front of them, speaking to the kneeling gang members in a commanding voice.

Another image crossed over Jack's and they saw the guild master of the silver wings guild. Sitting on a port with a fishing rod in his hands. He turned around and smiled at Jack's friends with a brilliant beaming smile.

Jack was their savior and Perseus was their light. Every time Perseus was around it was all smiles and laughter for the guild members and rightly so. Perseus cared for each of the guild members as if they were his own children. He regularly took them out fishing. He bought them clothes, he became enraged when they came back injured and scolded them for not retreating when needed.

A name was circulating around the guild members for Perseus.

"father of wings"

Ever since the guild members joined the silver wing guild they felt like they were flying. Like they were in paradise. They felt like they were soaring above the clouds, their strength increased at an astronomical speed. Now some of the guild members could take on 2 goblins by themselves. And with a group of 3 of them, they could take on an entire group of 8 goblins.

They earned their food, bringing back herbs and goblin ears as proof of subjugation. And honestly, the food they were given felt so much better than any rich meal that a kind noble gave to them out of pity when they were begging.

This was a meal they worked for. They didn't steal anything, they didn't fight anyone or gang up on somebody weaker than them for food.

This food was what they earned. And it was only Perseus who gave them this ability.

Jack was the first to feel this gratitude, and though his was felt much more intensely than others. To him, there was a good reason why Jack devoted his entire life to the person who seemed to lead him out of a dark tunnel and into the light.

Jack dismissed the gang members, giving them orders to go out and claim a nearby neighborhood under his name and to take out any people who resisted. He also commanded them to search for any people who seemed to claim the seat of the executive and to eliminate them.

Jack turned to the 5 people behind him, his friends. Rah the leader of the small group gave Jack a bold grin and raised up her fist. Her short blond hair slightly bobbed and her tan skin shone under the bright sun.

Prilisca shyly nodded her head at Jack and tried to cover her face with her long back hair.

Renya leaned back against the ground and gave Jack a small "eh" of acknowledgment. Her fiery red hair getting dirt all over them. Natalie would get mad. After realizing that, Renya quickly sat up and quietly dusted off her hair.

Theo, Terrell, and Alfredo gave Jack a happy grin and waved their hands intently at Jack. Jack had been part of The, Terrel and Alfredo for the longest time, though the three were triplets, they treated Jack as one of their own.

And so did the rest of the group. They were very young, almost alarmingly so. Yet they had gone through stuff that an adult person would shiver at. They had gone through events and places that no child should go through.

And yet they emerged, not unscathed. Their scars and bloody tattoos were evidence of that, but alive and therefore victorious. The same could be said about the rest of the guild members of the silver wings.

Jack smiled back at his friends, no his family.

Perseus had already given instructions to Jack. His friends would become executives if he became the boss of the gang. His friends would become just normal lackeys if he stayed as a regular weapons dealer. And if he became an executive, well his friends would become enforcers. Leaders of groups of lackeys.

Perseus didn't want to give Jack pressure, but he figured it out soon enough.

Jack knew what he had to do. He had to aim for the executive position. For the sake of his master, his family, and friends.

Jack suddenly caught himself and gave a small laugh as he realized that he said, family.

But that was what he honestly believed.

But first, he needed that executive position. And the first thing to do was to gain a reputation along with power and money.

Jack nodded to himself as another group of gang lackeys found their way in Jack's territory seeking his protection, that they thought he could give.

He looked at them with sharp eyes.

His story was about to begin.