Chapter 2: Prologue (2)

I have to admit, the first few weeks after Canary left were the hardest. The reality of everything only hit me once she was gone.

I holed myself up and for a while, I just sort of lazed around. Eventually though, I turned to my blasters out of boredom. I started... tinkering, optimizing them.

My father used to work in the mines, so he knew quite a bit about metals. And for the reactions that allowed the blasters to fire, I got them off some old books from the library.

After six months, the blasters became a lot more powerful than they had initially been. In fact, I started to believe that by using my blasters alone I could contest the Shanes.

However, I was wrong. An encounter with a low-level Ryka showed me that it wasn't nearly enough, they needed more work.

So for the past year, I dedicated myself to that. Some days I only sleep 3 hours, but I don't mind, the work is fulfilling. It makes for a good distraction, to help me forget about how unspecial I am... about how I almost killed my girlfriend over something so... petty.

Eventually, the blasters became good enough for me to start selling them. A few idiots calling themselves the 'Hands of death' started a rebellion against the Shanes, and they pay a pretty penny for my work.

In the past year, they managed to kill ten Shanes and destroy seven outposts. I'm not exactly sure what their goal in all this is. But the Shanes are greedy bastards, a dead Shane is better than one that's breathing.

Of course, this didn't help any for the city's security. More and more Ryka started slipping through, and the Shanes started charging even more for their 'services'. That means more families left with nothing... they'd die from starvation before any Ryka can get their hands on them.

The 'Hands of death' keep trying to rally supporters by offering protection for free. But already they've lost 40 men to the Ryka, and a 100 more civilians under their 'protection.'

Anyway, they ordered a large shipment recently. So large in fact that getting the scrap I needed to make the blasters was difficult. But after 3 weeks of near-sleepless nights, I finally finished. The exchange is going to happen tonight, in one of the underground taverns.

"Reeve, where you heading?" my father whispers as I don my cloak and hat.

"Nowhere paps," I reply. It's a lie of course.

"Best watch out son. The Shanes have been patrolling more frequently, they say their searching for the Merchant of Death. I know you wouldn't know anything about that though," he says, I can hear the suspicion in his tone. He knows.

"You're right. I don't mix myself with people like that. Besides, someone with the name 'Merchant of Death' ought to have some sort of Bullion don't you think?"

I quite like the title they gave me. It's not quite the Shane of death, but Merchant has a pretty ring to it too.

"I know you're still upset over not getting a Bullion son. But sometimes the price of power is more than its worth."

"This again? I told you I've accepted it. Canary was chosen, and I wasn't, what's done is done, okay? No use reminding me that I'm just another backwater citizen of this godforsaken city. Now I'll be on my way."

It's not that I'm still bitter over it. It's just that lately my father has been talking about it more and more. Perhaps it's because my 21st birthday is coming up, and it's reminding him of that night.

I know he means well, but I don't need his pity. I've been doing well for myself, I've nearly saved up enough to leave this place.

"Stay safe," my father says in a sort of sad tone before tiredly walking to his room. Lately, it's as if his old age has been eating away at him even faster than before.

"Bye," I say before storming out of the house.

It's raining, and the metal infrastructure of the city is creaking under the weight of the raindrops.

I quickly run towards the high-rise metal buildings at the edge of town, dash past the tight alleyways of the slum districts, and right through the crowds of dirty beggars, before making my way to the outskirts of the city.

You are reading story Arcane Frontier at novel35.com

This place is dangerous, not even the Shanes come out here. I can see the start of the forest out in the distance, Ryka-infested lands. But that's not where I'm heading. I set my eyes on a nearby cave, the entrance of the underground. The red light district of this city.

It's a sort of tunnel, unremarkable if you don't know the world that hides within it. Loitering at the mouth of the cave are several haggardly dressed men, if you didn't know any better you'd think they were beggars.

As I approach them, I pull my hat down so that its shadow is cast over my entire face.

"A coin for the poor?" one of the beggars asks, and I hear several clicking sounds follow shortly after.

"Best to avoid trouble boys. I'm here on behalf of the Hand," I say, before showing them a card. It's a card with a black hand on its face, a permit showing that I am a partner of the Hand of death.

"I understand that, but even the black hand has to pay the entrance toll. You know that," one of the beggars replies. Shortly after they pull back their hands from the darkness of their cloaks.

I toss three silver coins at them, the price of a full meal in the city.

"The fees been accepted," the beggar shouts, and the men make way for me. As I walk past them, I catch a glimpse of the weapons they have hidden under their torn rags.

Bronze blasters, marked with the words 'death'... I made those. Someone's been reselling my goods.

"Hey darling, you wanna have fun?"

"You look lonely, I can fix that."

This place is filled with whores. A weaker man would take them up on their offer, contract a disease, and have their pockets robbed of everything they have.

But me? I'm here on business.

"Fuck off," I shout, pushing one of the whores off me. The others get the message and move onto the next sucker.

Lately, it seems like the underground has more people than the actual city. There are so many people walking down and up the streets that I can hardly see past a few meters.

The sound of bards singing from all the different taverns creates a sort of nauseating sound. But I'm sure everyone here has already gotten used to it.

"You looking for something partner?" a man in a cloak asks me, before bumping into me and sticking to my shoulder like a leech. Before I know it, there's another to my left, and one right behind me.

"You guys the people I'm supposed to be meeting?" I ask, pulling my hat even further down my face.

"Depends. You the merchant?" one of them whispers back.

I show them the card and the goons lead me through the crowd of people, toward one of the less crowded bars. It's deeper within the tunnel and made entirely of metal scraps. It's not pretty, but perhaps it was designed with that intention.

"Get the boss," one of the goons shouts to a waitress, before showing me to a table.

The cold metal of the blaster in my hidden pocket makes me feel safe, even though I'm surrounded by strangers.

It's faster and holds more bullets than any of the others I've created. That's to say, if things go south, I'll be taking a lot of these fuckers down south with me.

You can find story with these keywords: Arcane Frontier, Read Arcane Frontier, Arcane Frontier novel, Arcane Frontier book, Arcane Frontier story, Arcane Frontier full, Arcane Frontier Latest Chapter