Parting

Trolls-

A monster specific to Borshall Kingdom-

And a monster feared all over the country.

Bright red skin- white eyes- and three pronged horns at the base of their buttocks.

Ten times bigger than Flint-

Three Flints wide.

"Alright-" Flint focused- said the words-

In his mind-

And imagined-

Lightning-

The rumbling of the sky- the clouds-

And a fall-

CRACKKK!!!

Just 30 meters away-

A solid thunder fall-

Sizzle-

Smoke-

"GOWAH-" Despite not having half of its skin- it started regenerating.

And waving a whole tree around like a club!

"Good job-" Anne chuckled, speeding past him-

A knife in hand-

In one swift motion- she climbed the burned troll, slitting its skin along the way, spiraling up- eventually-

Slicing off the whole head- one swing.

Fast-

No, it was too fast for his eye to keep up-

Thud- the large body crashed down on the ground.

Blood spilled but not a single drop touched Anne- as she raced back to Flint-

Unharmed.

'This is… strength?'

And this was the difference-

Between the two.

Though the neck was thicker than two Flint's combined- Anne still sliced it off with nothing more than just a single swing-

One-

Swing.

Perhaps she did it to teach Flint a lesson- teamwork mattered.

Or perhaps- 'She's beyond me-' He fell to his knees- staring.

Unable to close his eye-

Unable to blink.

Unable to-

Accept-

He was powerless.

When compared to Anne- he was nothing.

And-

'Then how am I-'

"Remember son-" Flint's memories roared- and a certain one played back. "It's okay to cry sometimes. You're a man- you need to protect your mother and sister if something happens to me, so you shouldn't cry even if they do. But- at the same time- it's cruel to say that. And so- it's okay to cry. Just let the feelings loose once in a while-"

"Damn-" Flint punched the ground.

What sort of fairytale was he living in to think-

To think he even could take on something that wiped his whole village-

When he couldn't even kill a single troll…

But Flint did take a deep breath, stood up, wiped the tears.

"Well done-" he said, with a smile, moving up to Anne.

'It doesn't matter if I can't do it yet… I just have to learn how to-' And though it was painful-

He just bit his lips- forced him to-

Move ahead.

"Body stiffened up a little so, couldn't move well enough. You think I should exercise a bit more?" She started stretching.

"Maybe-" he said. "But what of the corpse?"

Big- wide- lots of blood- staining the grass red.

The actual town entrance was still ways off-

"Too close to the town to just leave it here, we'll have to take it back."

"This?" Flint's eyes twitched. "How?"

He couldn't hope to even carry a single hand- let alone the whole thing.

And though strong, Anne probably couldn't either.

"Mind if I offer my services?" The woman- the transporter, had apparently still stuck around.

She kept her distance-so far. However-

"I'm not paying a single silver-" Anne said.

But the woman smiled. "Just one kiss- and I'll be doing the kissing." She stared at Flint.

The corpse was too big and possibly would fetch a decent price.

Taking it back wasn't going to be possible just for the sheer size.

Which was why-

This deal wasn't particularly bad.

And yet-

Something told Flint-

It was better not to accept…

So, he stared at Anne.

And Anne stared back, "Your choice-" she said. "If you say yes, we'll sell this for over 250 silvers, and if no, then we'll harvest the ears, fangs and some meat. I'd say we'll sell all that for 40 silvers; also, we might get charged if the Knight Hall finds out."

Flint sighed. "One- on the cheeks-"

The woman licked her lips. "Deal-" Flicked her finger once-

And the trio dropped before the gate of the city-

"We didn't have to hold hands?" Flint asked.

And not just that-

It was instantaneous and they didn't need to go the purple world either- at least as far as he was concerned.

"Oh, we do-" She said, holding Flint's face- up close- licking his cheek- three licks later- she smooched him- breath slightly steamy- "Thank you for the snack but if you'd like- I could also go for a full course-" She ruffled his hair- "We could have all sorts of fun- all kinds…of fun…" She whispered. Breath erratic- panting almost- heart in her eyes-

Heart racing faster- breath erratic- cheeks flushed- "Wha-" Flint couldn't say a word-

And he was glad he was wearing underwear-

Some gasps and words of excitement came from the nearby passersby…

"Let's go get the passes-" Anne grabbed Flint's hand and pulled ahead-

There were soldiers checking everyone-

"Mercenary-" Anne pointed at her self- "My assistant-" She pointed at Flint. "We killed that and would like an immediate pass."

There was a line in front of the city. Loads and loads of people. all kinds-

'Refugees…' Reminding Flint- his village wasn't the only one.

Teleportation was possible all over the world- as long as one had visited there personally-

However-

Teleportation wasn't allowed directly to a city.

One could leave from the city- but not arrive directly. Such was the law.

Most adhered to it-

But of course, there were exceptions-

There always were.

"AN ID, miss?"

"Sure-"

Anne showed hers- and the woman also showed hers-

Flint didn't have one- since his village didn't need one but yeah-

The soldier wasn't that concerned since his face wasn't on the wanted list.

"Alright- go ahead."

"We'll be using that transporter to transport this to the guild if that's okay-" Anne said.

"Sure miss but be warned- teleporting around the town is forbidden."

"Right."

"Let's go-" Anne said- standing next to the Troll corpse-

The woman grinned. "Since we're doing this twice, I'll also get another kiss, right?" She wondered.

"No, the deal has already been made and you cannot change the agreements." Anne wasn't budging.

"Too bad…" Slightly disappointed- she flicked her fingertips-

And the three- along with the corpse arrived just inside the guild in the city of Brooke-

Apparently, warping to nearby places, didn't require one to hold hands-

Or so Flint surmised.

'Woah-'

A lot bigger-

Two floors- they were on the second one with an express view of the bottom floor.

And though there were vastly more people here compared to that measly guild hall in Dale- they weren't as noisy.

Rather organized bunch-

And definitely-

Cleaner.

Not just clean but-

Everyone seemed so-

Powerful.

And- free?

"Alright- my work here is done." The woman smiled. Looked at Flint- "If you ever- need my assistance- feel free to look for me- Amanda-" She winked. "My lil Fil." A flying kiss-

And she left.

"How the fuck did she know my name…." He kind of paled, a shiver running down his spine.

"Let's go-"

Anne wasn't bothered in the least, however.

Not her problem.

But- "Stop being so shy, and stop being such a wuss. If you're that easily embarrassed around women- they'll have their way with you way too often…"

Flint though- "Right."

He almost always dealt with independent women… but never had to come across someone so expressive or rather…. Aggressive.

So- he was a little shaken.

And yes, that was an understatement.

"Alright. Though it's kind of useless- you can still become an adventurer if you prefer going out and fighting monsters-"

"Are you doing this to protect me?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you protecting me? Because you knew my parents?"

Hundreds of adventurers-

Just going about their days-

Some coming in, some going out- some laughing- some crying in the corner… the sole survivors.

"I'm not sure you want to have that conversation here-"

"Just tell me please-"

"Yes- I owed your father. And that's why I agreed to mentor your sister. However, with her dead, I did consider mentoring you. You have talent. By mentoring you I'm only going to set you down a path, I hate. I'm sorry but revenge isn't worth it. I don't preach forgiveness. But forgiving-" She paused. "I apologize. That was insensitive of me."

A breath- "Thank you… really, for everything. But as par our agreement, I'm free once we entered Brooke."

A hard decision.

A very hard decision.

Yet-

Flint didn't hesitate.

Perhaps he wasn't doing the right thing-

Perhaps he was just going down a path of circles-

But-

It was his choice.

A faint smile. "Suit yourself. I'll stick around town for at least a few months. At the Silver Moon inn. If anything comes up-"

"I won't go to you."

"Alright then- farewell- Flint." A nod and she went out- "Keep the money from the troll. You'll need it; and-" A smile. A kind smile. "Goodluck-"

Slightly grimacing… 'Shit…'

He didn't want to part like this… he wanted to thank her some more-

But-

He went over to the counter-

And sold the corpse.

For a good 350 Silvers. More than he thought possible. The receptionist even went on to tell him- he could have made over 400 silvers if he had a license…

And with that-

Flint was done with the guild but-

'I'm alone…'

And he brought it onto himself.

Perhaps it was better to keep his mouth shut.

But at the same time-

Just thinking about those days- the image of his parents- his sister…

Just thinking about that made his stomach crawl- his teeth rattle and eyes glare… the anger- the desire- the will to kill- never truly went away- even when he was perfectly calm.

Which was why-

He wasn't going to be able to achieve what he wanted to- with her babying him. Maybe it would have been different if she chose to help me grow stronger but-

But-

What did he want?

Did he want an easy life?

Did he want a respectable life?

Or did he just want to pummel whatever bastard ruined his life?

There was still time-

Still time to figure that out.

But-

His mind was already made up-

So, he headed out of the guild-

'First let's find out who the fuck did this.'