The Nail

Logan wandered the streets of Ingwald, looking about. Merely window shopping at this point. The small amount of money that he carried was tightly grasped in his fist. Logan was searching for stuff to help him out later today, but he didn't know what stuff he needed. It was a huge problem at this point. Not wanting to miss out once again, Logan quickly decided to buy a small coin pouch, a satchel of sorts, and some rope. This costed him all of his money!

He was poor once again, a pity.

"Gah, once I get this pin I won't have to carry any of this stuff ever again!" Logan proclaimed, whilst also complaining about his back hurting.

Although Ingwald was a bustling city, Logan had pretty much stayed on two different streets the whole time, so he knew his way back to the historical building. After stepping into the building, Logan quickly scouted out an area to wait in. Once the pin was clear of people he would snatch it and run!

"Thirty minutes until closing time!" A voice rang out. It was quite faint by the time it hit Logan's ears, although it probably came from the very opposite side of the building.

Standing up and shaking his weary and slightly tired body awake, Logan made his way over to the pin! There wasn't a single soul in sight and he was ready to take it. Upon stepping right next to it, he quickly darted his eyes back and forth, seeing if anyone was paying attention. Thankfully for Logan, no one was. Smiling greedily, Logan observed the pin for a little bit. He hoped it wasn't trapped at all. It was too late for such thoughts he told himself! Looking around one more time, Logan quickly swiped at the pin, dumping it into the coin pouch almost right away. Logan paused for a moment before heaving a sigh of relief, nothing went wrong!

SCREEEEEEEEEEECH

An ear piercing screech resounded throughout the building, scaring all of the patrons. Logan was freaking out, this must be an alarm! Not knowing what to do in this kind of situation, Logan panicked and ran out of the building! Without looking back he ran and ran and ran. He was starting to regret doing this! Logan didn't want to go to jail or waste his new chance at life away, and so he ran hoping that he wouldn't get caught. While turning a corner, he heard some screams behind him.

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!" The guards from the building shouted, frantic in their attempt to stop you. One of the guards tries to throw his sword at Logan, hoping to get lucky and hit him. Between the running and the flying boxes and all of the corners, the guard misses.

A few corners and a couple overturned baskets later, Logan successfully escaped the guards. He could tell that they didn't know that it was magic, given how easily and fast that they gave up. Panting, Logan slows to a walk before coming to rest at a wall. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Reaching his hand into the coin ouch to verify he still had the pin, he let out a pent of breath he didn't know he had.

"Phew, looks I got away safely! I am NOT trying that ever again, way too much risk for my current state." Logan thought, caring for his own body a little bit more than he had before.

Reaching a small alleyway that was mostly covered by shadows and trash, Logan hid behind some larger bags and pulled out the pin before initiating with the System.

"System, do I have to do anything special, or will just a couple drops do?" Logan asked, he hoped he didn't have to chant anything like a crazy person. "A few drops of the host's blood is all that is needed, although it is recommended that the host is in a healthy state of mind and body." The System reported with a monotonous voice. "I'll have to see if I can change its voice later.." Logan muttered.

Looking around, Logan found a rusty nail on the ground. "I really hope I don't get tetanus from this, that would really fucking suck." He prayed, bringing the nail closer to his hand. Logan's left hand grasped the nail, the right hand the pin. Steeling his nerves Logan brought the tip of the nail to his right hand. Clenching his jaw in anticipation, Logan quickly dug the tip of the nail into his hand and dragged it down the length, almost to the wrist.

"Gaaaarh!" Logan screamed, the pain far worse than he could ever imagine. Quickly throwing the nail to the ground, Logan grabbed his right wrist, while his bleeding and throbbing right hand clutched the pin that was held within. Screaming in pure agony, Logan fell unconscious due to the pain.

It was morning, the air just warming up to the sun's gentle touch. The sounds of farm animals drifted into the city, waking up the denizens. People started their day, eating porridge and tending to chores. Bakeries and other stalls started to open, providing the wandering people with food and jewelry alike.

Down the long stretch of stalls was Mary Iwamura. She looked a bit worried, Logan hadn't arrived yet to help her unpack. It's been one going on two hours and Logan still hadn't appeared. Worried for Logan, Mary asked around to see if anyone had seen him lately. One of the people she asked was Liz.

"Excuse me, miss? Have you seen a man named Logan? He's decently tall and has ugly red hair." Mary asked Liz while she was at her stall.

"L-Logan? I know a Logan. I was showing him around the library and surrounding areas a couple of days ago when he just disappeared! I did later learn that he had a job here but that he had troubles with finding a place to sleep. Wish Logan would have told me that.." Liz trailed off lost in memory.

"Yes that Logan! Have you seen him around? He was suppose to come this morning to help me but I didn't see him at all. The kid seemed so happy he got a job I can't imagine he just left." Mary calmed down a bit knowing that Liz knew Logan too. "Well, hmm, let me pack up first and then we can both go out and look for him, yeah?" Mary proposed this plan to Liz.

"Uh, yeah sure! Just let me use the restroom first and I'll be ready to go!" Liz said while being excited to see Logan once again. She almost had herself a small accident in her clothes because she was too excited, so she went to "calm down" in the bathroom.

The two girls finally finished their respective tasks and started looking for Logan.