Enforcer

Walking to the representative's house took only a few minutes. Silver knocked on the door and waited outside, listening to grumbles and the sound of things crashing before a tall man with deep black marks resembling a raccoon's eyes answered the door. His unkempt appearance, coupled with these distinctive eye markings, immediately caught Silver's attention.

With a frown, the man sized up Silver, raising a brow and letting out a chuckle. "Got too excited, couldn't wait till morning to tell me you broke through? What body do you have? Wood probably, right?" Despite being taller than Silver by a full two feet, the man had a stocky build, looking more like a compact wall of muscle than a typical tall figure. He seemed like a character straight out of a fantasy game, with his greasy brown hair falling in disarray around his face and patches of stubble adorning his jaw, suggesting a futile attempt at growing a full beard.

Silver couldn't help but notice the man's hands—large, callused, and resembling stubby sausages capable of crushing anything with sheer strength alone. These observations made him question his assumptions about the outcomes of tempering, wondering if he, too, would develop such a… formidable physique. He worried that he wouldn't be as handsome as he is now young and lean, but he figured this was the effects of the man's tempering and chosen essence. As he shifted his focus to what the man was carrying, noticing no weapons as far as he could see, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehension about his forthcoming words. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to speak.

With a raised hand, Silver gestured to stop the representative and shook his head slightly. "No, I obtained another body suitable for various tasks, but now is not the time for that. After my first tempering, I sensed a premonition of danger and escaped my room, only to find someone sneaking into it from the outside. I killed the intruder after verifying his intent to harm me."

The representative paused, his smile vanishing instantly as his eyes sobered up, scrutinizing the child before him. He noticed the steadiness of Silver's hands, considering they had just taken the life of another human, and the calmness in his speech. "Enforcer material," he muttered after his evaluation, before meeting Silver's gaze. "Take me to the body. I must verify everything with my own eyes."

With a quick pivot, Silver started walking back to his shack, arriving in half the usual time, noting the representative's growing impatience during their walk. 

The body lay on the ground, its form still and silent, surrounded by a faint aura of solemnity. Despite the absence of any visible wounds as it was laying face down, there was a sense of finality in its posture, as if life had quietly slipped away from it. The skin, once vibrant and full of vitality, now bore a pallid hue, hinting at the absence of the life force that once animated it. A solemn stillness hung over the scene, with only the occasional rustle of leaves outside breaking the silence.

The representative collected a small portion of the blood, adding it to a card at his side and allowing it to soak into the material before nodding. "He was undergoing blood tempering. This is completely illegal within the guild's walls." Retrieving a crystal from a small satchel, he pressed it against the body, pausing and waiting for something to happen.

After a full minute, he looked at the crystal, confused, then hurriedly searched the body, finding nothing but lint from his pockets. "Tell me, kid, did you take anything off the body before coming to me?"

"A black ring, but I destroyed it because I sensed something ominous emanating from it. If my actions were incorrect, please advise me. There wasn't anything in the guild book about how to proceed." Silver replied, feeling a sense of uncertainty clouding his mind.

"No, you did well. However, I'll have to search your possessions to ensure you aren't still holding onto it. Do you consent to a search?" The representative asked, and Silver nodded in agreement. The search revealed nothing incriminating, and the representative returned his coins. "You did a good job. Some individuals who undergo demonic rituals carry items that can corrupt others."

With a hint of disdain, the representative kicked the body, eyeing Silver intently. "You, I'm going to recommend you join the enforcers or the investigators because of your actions. But only if you have a combat-oriented body tempering. What body did you forge?"

"I'm not sure," he shook his head. "I can't find anything about it in the books, but it allows me to summon items to assist me once per day and increases my stamina, leg strength, and overall abilities by a marginal amount."

"It sounds... like a body mutation."

"Body mutation, sir?"

"Yes, when one is tempering a body, sometimes there is a fusion between two types of essence, allowing one to form a body that is neither of the two elements. It is rare but usually takes some of the advantages of the two elements but loses out on the specialty of both. Making you a jack of all trades in a way, but fundamentally more balanced than any pure path of essence," he stroked the stubble across his jawline before finally coming to a conclusion. "We need to have you tested. You mentioned summoning items; can you show me?"

"I already have one such item on at the moment, a body suit that enhances stealth and calms the mind." Silver opened his shirt to reveal the body suit underneath, not divulging his full abilities of either his body or the soul gears he can create. "This is one of the items I can summon for now. As far as I can tell, this might be the only item. I don't know if there are any limitations to it or if I have other items I can summon."

As he wanted to be thought of as having tempered his body recently he could only lie to the representative, keeping a poker face at the misleading remarks, he had grown accustomed to lying due to various positions he held in his past life. Mixing both truth and lies, made things more believable and no one would assume that a small child would lie to them in such a way.

"This isn't the time or the place to ask these questions. I'll get some people to clean up the body, and the merit for killing him will go to you," Silver's eyes glinted at a possible reward. "It seems like you'd be a great fit for an enforcer though, and that is where I am going to recommend you. You're what? Seven? Eight?"

"Seven. I'll be eight in a handful of months," Silver admitted.

"Good, a good seed. If you were closer to nine or ten, I wouldn't be able to recommend you anywhere, but considering your age, that will make others accept you even if you've been adopted into the guild," the man nodded. "My name is Master Kong. You'll need to introduce yourself with a letter come tomorrow for enforcer training. Wait... do you know how to read and write?"

"Yes, Master Kong."

"Good, then you can go straight to enforcer training. There's no need to send you to one of the tutors. This is a great opportunity for you. Normally, most of the people the guild adopts become laborers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but…" Silver could tell by Kong's voice that he looked down on the laborers, even if he didn't say it aloud. "Most of them can only go so far and don't have the connections or resources an enforcer would have."

"What exactly is an enforcer, Master Kong?"

"They are the people who keep the peace, hunting down people like what you did. Don't worry. Once you have training, it will be easier to kill them," he smiled a bit. "I was an enforcer before I got injured. Now I have to watch over you kids."

Silver almost cringed at the fact that he was going to be recommended for an enforcer position, he wanted something safe, something he could coast out life doing making a decent income as his body improved itself automatically. He just needed to find a graveyard, or battlefield to increase his body tempering but he knew he couldn't turn it down so he showed a smile on his face like he was excited for the prospect.

He kicked the body again for good measure, looking both angry and annoyed. "Honestly, we found out something was happening a week ago but didn't find any clues. Luckily, you took care of the problem for us."

Silver nodded humbly, not saying anything to Kong's words, just looking at the crystal in his hand with a suspicious gaze. He hoped that it wouldn't become a hindrance to him in the future because he would not stop progressing even if they were to find out that he extracted the souls.

"Now, we're going to get you a uniform, and you can pick up gear that you think you will need with the five hundred credits you'll be getting for tempering your body. I would suggest a weapon and some armor to keep you alive, even if you won't need them until after your training. Now, you'll be staying at my place tonight so I don't have to get you in the morning."

Silver followed Kong back to his house now finally taking in the scenery as he would be spending the night here.

The facade of the house was weather-beaten, with peeling paint revealing the worn wood underneath. As Silver stepped inside behind Kong, he was met with a musty smell that permeated the air, tinged with the faint odor of stale alcohol. The interior felt cluttered and cramped, with stacks of miscellaneous items crowding every available space.

The furniture, what little there was, showed signs of wear and tear, with faded upholstery and creaky joints. The couch where Silver would spend the night sagged under his weight, its cushions lumpy and uneven. Dust motes danced in the dim light filtering through grimy windows, casting long shadows on the cluttered floor.

Despite its apparent disarray, there was a sense of lived-in comfort about the place, as if each item had a story to tell, if only someone would listen. The walls bore the marks of age and neglect, with peeling wallpaper and patches of discoloration. Overall, it was a slightly dirty house, filled with the accumulated detritus of a lifetime, yet somehow it felt like home to Kong.