-Lukali

The sound of people and carts moving past filled the air, and soon Lia found herself thrown back into the messy streets of Kokono, from the once ere silence of the Guild.

Leading her down the street by the mere sounds of vague answers was Lukail, the boy who had defended her from the group of ruffians she had run into when leaving the guild.

Lukail barely talked, barely said a word more than his name as he guided her through people and stalls.

Everywhere they passed, Lia was amazed by the amount of influence Lukali had, as they passed by several guards, stalls, and even fellow hunters who nodded their heads to him in greeting.

Lia didn't know much about their customs, but she could easily tell that this was a sign of respect.

A respect she had yet to earn.

"Where are we going?"

Lia's question was steadily ignored as Lukali moved quicker, dodging through carts and people that rushed by.

Lia was beginning to get angry at Lukali's constant habit of ignoring her questions.

This had persisted since he dragged her from the guild, her papers in his hand, and began their journey down the busy streets.

After her little escapade in the guild, she didn't really want to stay there any longer than she was required to. So, in some way she was grateful for Lukali pulling her out of there.

'I heard that.'

'Right.'

Cain however, wasn't too happy about leaving. In fact he was more than furious that he had been dragged away from people he would have more than willingly pulverized.

'They deserved death, and so they would have gotten it. Nothing wrong with that.'

'Are you sure that you just weren't sticking up for me?'

Throughout their half an hour walk, Cain had continuously complained about Lukali and everything he had done.

So, naturally, she had decided her best option for now was to tase Cain as much as she dared.

'Don't start.'

Of course, after almost an hour of this, Cain was obviously exhausted.k

'Look ahead.'

"Huh."

At Cain's request she had checked their path once more, only now she found herself halfway down an alley, where Lukali stood against the wall.

The sounds of carts and people were distant now, and Lia knew that they were probably too far to hear them.

Instinctively, she placed her hand, covered by her cloak, on her dagger.

"What are you doing?"

Lia was on guard, her voice betraying a slight hint of worry.

Instantly, however, Lukali calmed her down, raising his hands with a smile on his face, where a frown once sat.

"Calm down, calm down. I mean you no harm."

'Says the guy who brought me to an abandoned alley.'

"Why bring me here?"

Lia slowly took several steps back, as she carefully moved into a position where she would be able to see any moves he made.

Lukali could see this, and stayed where he was, daring not to test his fate against her.

"I brought you here because I'm not really someone you want to be seen around."

'And yet he brings you through a main street market. Smart.'

Said Cain, who jumped on the chance to insult Lukali, like he had been doing for a while.

Using his logic, however, Lia decided to further question Lukali's actions.

"Then why bring me through such a busy street? Especially if you didn't want me to be seen with you?"

Lukali made a motion to speak, but quickly held his tongue. Whatever it was, Lia could tell that she would not have liked it.

Eventually, he found the courage to speak again.

"I meant having this discussion. I didn't want people to see me making a deal with you."

At the sound of the word 'deal', Lia's ears perked up. A subtle trait that she had picked up after dealing with Cain.

Some people, even if they proposed the deal, were suckers in the end, and Lia had already experienced plenty of that.

'Oh would you just shut up about that.'

Unknowingly to Cain, Lia had purposely leaked that bit of information from her head, knowing Cain would read it and be annoyed.

Her own little vengeance against his constant nagging was slowly starting to make her happy.

'I could get used to this.'

She thought.

'Don't.'

Lia nearly lost her pose and laughed at Cain's deep and yet serious voice as it instantly responded to her in the most annoyed tone she had ever heard.

She really could get used to this.

Unaware of what was transpiring before him, Lukali could see Lia's demeanor change from guarded to a more open approach.

He smiled, under the impression that he had softened her suspicions, and was now ready to present her with his deal.

"My father leads a very successful group of Hunters. That's why everyone recognizes me. However, I want to prove myself to him."

Snapping Lia's mind away from Cain, she listened to every word Lukali spoke, with a careful and logical approach.

There wasn't a single thing she could afford to miss.

"That being said, I have no great power to assist me on this mission of mine. So, I kindly ask you for permission to join you on your raid."

The sound of his words made Lia's brows furrow.

'He wants to join me? But I hardly know him.'

Lia was more confused than ever. But more than that, her mind instantly raced to the worst possibility.

'It's possible he's trying to leech off of me and get all the treasures to himself. Or he could be trying to gain something better than the reward, but what?'

Lukali instantly saw Lia's confusion and moved fast to explain himself before that option was gone.

"I understand your worries, but allow me to explain. I saw you being treated badly by the people in that guild."

He raised his hands and backed away, hoping her hesitance would not go south for him.

"So, I thought about it and came to a conclusion. You're an outsider there, I'm not. If you bring in those monsters, which I'm sure you can, given your strength, they won't believe you."

Now Lia was able to put two and two together, and piece the puzzle of his plan into one picture.

"So you're willing to trade credibility for recognition."

"Yes."

Lukali said, snapping his fingers.

"That's exactly what I'm offering. But don't be misunderstood, I'll work hard on the raid, and I'll do my part."

The deal wasn't bad, but then again it wasn't too in her favor. It was just normal. An even exchange.

Lia had gotten used to the feeling of being on the receiving end of contracts, but so far she had always had them go exceptionally well in her favor.

Given that, she was more hesitant than someone would have been if they had been given this deal.

On one hand she could gain credit with the guilds if he really was who he said he was, but then again, she would have to defend two people rather than one.

The deal came with its own risks and worries, just as it did with its treasures.

'Cain?'

Confused on which path she should decide, she inevitably chose to ask Cain, given that he might have the best answers for her now.

'Don't ask me. I'm just the guy who got screwed over on some contract.'

However, Cain wasn't too willing to help, after she continuously teased him.

'Come on Cain. This is serious.'

She could feel Cain sigh at her words, before his attention shifted to Lukali.

'Look at it this way Lia. We have a man who is willing to vouch for us and our transactions in the guild. All for us just being escorts and vouching that he was there.'

'So what are you saying?'

'I understand your worries, afterall, if he was strong enough to defend himself, couldn't he have gone alone? Your suspicion is well founded and I pride you for thinking so, however, you also have to think about his character and what type of person hw could be.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'Look at him. Don't look at the contract or the deals he could make you, look at the person behind those deals and question him.'

Heading Cain's advice, Lia's mind began to whirl through different ideas and questions. Mainly about Lukali, but also about herself and what this could mean for her, being in a deal with him.

'Do you know what I see?'

Lia turned her attention back to Lukali, looking for anything that would draw attention.

'I don't see anything.'

'That's because you're not looking. Look.'

Lia once again looked at Lukali, but this time didn't look at his stature or physique. Instead she looked at his character and how he acted.

From his actions in the guild, to now when he proposed the contract.

And soon, she came to the same conclusion as Cain.

'Pushover.'

Instantly Lia shook her head, that the sound of both Cain's voice and her own sounding out at one with a common thought sent chills down her spine.

"I'm slowly starting to become like you."

She mumbled, inaudible to Lukali who stood patiently waiting for an answer.

'Thus my job.'

Responded Cain in a smirkish manner.

Letting Lukali wait long enough, Lia decided to give him an answer after having come to a stern conclusion.

"Lukali."

"Y-Yes."

He jumped at the sudden sound of her voice, snapping his body into an upright position.

'He's jumpy.'

"Lukali, I've decided on accepting your proposal."

The look on his face could not have been more happy, as he struggled to contain his excitement.

"Thank you, thank you."

He said as he rushed to her, shaking her hand up and down so hard she thought her arm would fall off.

"You won't regret this I promise you."

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, ok?"

Lia took back her hand, stoking the wrist as it throbbed.

"I'm willing to help you if you promise to not get in my way."

Lukali nodded his head, aggressively agreeing to Lia's demands.

Seeing this, Lia could do nothing but sigh, knowing full well that she was going to have to get used to this.

"Fine, fine. Do you have a way to get to the nest?"

"The nest?"

Lia's eyebrows raised, confusion over taking her face.

"You do know what creatures were going to go kill, right?"

"Well…"

Luaklia scratched the back of his head as he looked the other way. Avoiding her eye contact.

Lia, seeing this, couldn't stop herself from face palming.

And she wasn't the only one.

'Fool.'

Cain was obviously voicing his insults against Lukali, along with herself who couldn't help but second guess herself.

'Are we sure this is a good idea?'

'Think about it this way. If he fails at helping us, he'd make a good shield against the spiders.'

Hearing this, Lia couldn't stop herself from cringing.

'Cain. Be kind.'

'Don't act like you don't agree with me.'

She shook her head.

'At least wait until he's useless, then we can discuss this.'

'Fine.'

"Alright, fine."

Lia reached into her back pocket, drawing out a loose sheet of paper and opened it for Lukali to see.

"Here, we're hunting spiders. Silver Tail Spiders to be exact."

At the mention of spiders, Lukali stiffened up, though he tried to hide it.

Lia however, easily caught it, and inwardly sighed, pushing on with her discussion and pretending she didn't notice.

"The nest can be found in the Ridge Walk mountains. There's apparently a silver mine there that has had some cases of disappearances."

The more Lia read about the spiders, the more she realized that this mission was probably more than she had imagined.

For starters she would be dealing with an enclosed space, a dirty atmosphere, and in a dark space to top it all off.

Immediately she realized that she would need some form of power that didn't have too great an effect on the mines, as they were silver mines.

Even she, who spent her entire life inside a castle, knew the importance and the value of a silver mine, especially so close to the town.

All of this, she did her best to relay to Lukali, who surprisingly, watched with great interest and attention.

"We'll be in a tight and enclosed space, so no large area of attack spells can be used. Meaning we'll be dealing with hand to hand combat."

Lia paused in her explanation to see if Lukali was following along, which he nodded in response.

"The problem is, we don't know their numbers. According to this information, Silver Tail spiders can range from ten centimetres to a meter long. Also, we won't know how much we're dealing with until we get there."

Lukali took the paper in his hands, and, after quickly reading through it, came to a conclusion.

"Another problem will be dealing with the safety of the miners as well as the minerals. Damaging those will cause us to be liable for their replacement."

Lia was more surprised than she had expected.

For one, she never thought about sharing that bit of information to him, as she was afraid it would just overwhelm him, causing him to care more about the minerals, than about his own life.

And she really didn't want his life in her hands.

Two, she was afraid he would either be too overprotective of the mines, or the spiders.

She wasn't keen on having someone know too much about this hunt, in case he stabbed her in the back, took the silver, and blamed it all on her.

There were just too many things that could go wrong with that information. But now, there was no point.

"I'm surprised you put that together."

Lia didn't lie, in the end, she was more guarded now than she had been before, but that didn't change the surprise she felt.

'Perhaps he's not as bad as I thought.'

'Give him time. He'll fail.'

Ignoring Cain, Lia went back to the information, and began to lay out a rough idea of a plan for when they get there.

"So long as we get in there, we might be able to bottle neck the spiders to a location far away from silver and miners. Depending on how wide the passageways are, we might be able to get through this a lot easier than I would think."

Lukali nodded his head to Lia's plan, silently agreeing with what she said.

Of course he had no choice over the matter, as he didn't want to test what fragile of a bridge he had made between the two of them.

Whatever plan she came up with, he would agree to it, without hesitation.

"Now all we need is passage to the mines. Some form of travel."

Glancing at Lukali, Lia questioned him.

"Do you know anyone who we could pay, cheap for coin, to take us there?"

Taking his head in his hand, Lukali thought for a moment, stroking his chin, and thinking hard.

"There might be someone."

"Someone?"

Lukali thought for a moment, before deciding to just tell her straight out.

"There is, but you won't like it."