“This was supposed to be an easy fight!” A meaty hand slammed the wooden table, causing the map made out of parchment on the table and empty mugs of ale to tremble. The same hand pointed menacingly at a group of young men, who flinched slightly.
“All you had to do was win over that block, and instead you idiots turned it into an ugly fight that got one of the repayment fodder killed for nothing.” The owner of the hand berated the group, chiding them for their incompetence.
“It wasn’t our fault – Riker was too strong!” One of the guys complained, infuriated at the one-sided scolding.
“You’re useless, Damian. If I was there, I could easily beat him with one hand tied behind my back. Back in my heyday, I used to be the champion in this district! Me, Ulon Baktar! Even the Ardent Cretins knew about my name.” The gang leader of the Seven Snakes smacked his chest with that same meaty hand.
Then why don’t you go there and fight yourself, huh? Damian internally raged as Ulon Baktar went on a spiel about the good old days, and how the Seven Snakes used to be a great gang, controlling more than three districts in the South Sector. Now they were a small-time racket, barely a factor in the criminal underbelly of Raktor.
“Don’t you know how I became gang leader? I duelled the previous one as per tradition, winning easily! It is ALL of you, the useless trash that is dragging down the reputation we once had!” Ulon accused.
Before Ulon could continue his monologue any further, the door burst wide open, with Kyle Hawthorn entering, dragging the badly beaten-up Riker who was still slightly whimpering as his wounded limbs were continuously cut by the rough flooring. Kyle had Riker’s enchanted metal pipe strapped to his belt, his clothes still drenched in dried blood.
Tossing Riker to the side without care, Kyle walked up to face Ulon directly who was still sitting behind the table. “You are the gang leader of the Seven Snakes?” Kyle asked stoically.
“Al-Alvin, I heard from Damian you were badly hurt. They thought you dead! Where did you find Riker? Was it another gang that intervened?” Ulon was happy about seeing one of Red Lion’s goons in terrible shape, focusing on Riker’s bruised face with glee.
Kyle snapped his fingers once, a light but somehow extremely clear and attention-grabbing sound. “Answer the question.”
Ulon was slightly taken aback by the sheer confidence that Alvin now radiated. Instead of replying directly, Ulon was more angered by the fact that this lowly repayment fodder had the audacity to act like he was in charge. “Yes, I am your gang leader, and I order you to get back into formation behind Damian before I punish you again! Seems like the gang fight has made you forget how we run.”
“I heard you killed the previous leader in a duel. I challenge you to a duel for the position of gang leader.”
The entire room was shocked. The weak Alvin now suddenly standing up to Ulon? What in the world has gotten into him? He had just ‘come back’ from the dead.
Ulon squinted his eyes. “You do know it’s a life-or-death duel, no?”
Kyle didn’t respond, merely staring right at Ulon’s plump face, waiting for his reply. The nonchalant expression on Kyle’s face irked Ulon even more.
“Good, if you want to be beaten to death so much, I’ll happily oblige. I won’t be killing off my property so soon though!”
“Very well.” Kyle immediately delivered a strong frontal kick to the table, smacking right into Ulon and toppling him over in the chair. The table cracked apart in the middle of the force, causing Ulon to be caught off-guard and slightly disorientated from the shock.
Before Ulon could recover, Kyle grabbed the enchanted metal pipe from his waist, running up and smacking it as hard as he could on Ulon’s head. A loud snapping sound was heard, Ulon’s forearm shattering in a desperate attempt to block.
Instead of crying out, Ulon bore the pain and began to chant something, runes on his necklace glowing green. A green aura enveloped Ulon, healing the wound. “Hah, you think you can-“
Another quick smack on his arm interrupted Ulon, cracking his forearm again, followed by a flurry of rapid hits. Kyle wasn’t about to let Ulon heal normally, continuously whacking.
“Wai-WAIT! STOP!” Ulon screamed, sticking his other good arm out which was unceremoniously hit by the enchanted metal pipe too. Kyle whacked with consistency, never stopping and with a constant breath, as though he was pounding a dough of bread.
The beating continued for three minutes, the necklace’s glow beginning to faint. Ulon could barely talk now, his face a complete mess covered in blood and snot. Kyle finally grabbed the metal pipe with both arms, before smashing it right down on Ulon’s head, a soft little spurt echoing through the office.
None of the other members dared to move during the entire duel, shocked by the sheer brutality revealed by Alvin. It was as if a different human – no, a monster had awoken within Alvin.
Kyle was about to raise his metal pipe to hit Ulon again when a message appeared.
Kyle rested his bloodied metal pipe on his shoulders and bent over to rip Ulon’s necklace from his neck.
Kyle glanced around at the frightened gang members. “Anyone else want to try me?”
The gang members shook their heads rapidly, including Damian. While Ulon was a slob and a lazy leader, there was no doubt he was well-defended and had a solid constitution. The number of hits Kyle had to deliver to kill Ulon was a testimonial to that. Kyle didn’t even look tired out, his eyes still staring directly at them with rapt attention.
“No, leader.” Damian bowed immediately, a slight fear erupting on his face as he realized that Kyle could maybe beat all of them up without breaking a sweat.
“Good. From now on, the gang is under me. The name shall remain the same. Who’s the oldest gang member here?” Kyle asked.
The gang members looked at each other, completely confused about Alvin’s apparent memory loss. Did he really not remember anything about the gang? “I’ve been here the longest, about five years now, Alvin.”
“Ok, the rest of you, remove the two bodies and get out. You stay. Also, from now on my name is Kyle, got it?” Kyle motioned.
Expressions of utter confusion were apparent to the gang members. They begin to whisper among each other, wondering if Alvin finally went senile or was pushed to the edge by the near-death experience, creating a bipolar personality.
A loud and clear snap rang through the room again. “I said, got it?” Kyle stared them down with a stern expression, causing the rest of the gang members to nod their heads vigorously, exiting the room while carrying the dead Ulon and unconscious Riker.
Kyle kicked the broken table apart, retrieved the chair and sat down on it. “Name?”
“Alvin, do you not remember me? What happened to you in that fight? I swear I didn’t mean to abandon you, it’s just…” Damian rambled, before looking up into Kyle’s eyes, seeing that he was extremely serious and not in a joking manner. The blotches of blood that stained his clothes added even more intimidation.
“My name is Damian, leader.” Damian formally replied, to which Kyle finally nodded. “I’m going to be asking some questions. You will answer immediately and directly to the best of your abilities.” Damian nodded. Did he lose all his memories, and a bipolar personality took over or something?
“Good. I understand this city is known to be Raktor and is fairly large.”
“Yes sir, the city of Raktor is home to approximately eight million people. We are currently in the South Sector.” He did lose all his memories.
“What is the level of technology here?”
“Level of technology…? Well, everything runs on arctech, using arcane magic in machinery and so on. I’m not sure how to explain it…”
“Never mind. What’s the economical distribution of the city? Which industries are the largest?”
“Huh…?” Damian scratched his head, unsure of what the hell Alvin was asking.
Kyle frowned visibly, causing Damian to slightly tense up. “Let me ask it in a simpler way. How does this city make money? Do you have a currency system?”
“Ah yes, the city is a big trade hub, so most of the money comes from trading and services. There’s a few factories, but they are still fairly new and not scaled up yet, mostly research. The currency is rakels.”
“So a nascent industrialization society…”
“Na-sce-nt?”
“Ignore that. How does the Seven Snakes make money?”
“Oh, the usual. We provide protection services to traders and stall owners in this district as well as other shops. We also trade in alcohol and own a few brothels.”
“Alcohol?”
“Yes, wine, moonshine, the usual. There’s a citywide ban on alcohol now, so the gangs have been fighting for every inch of territory to cash in on potential customers. That was why we were fighting for that area, Alv… Kyle. Leader, sorry.”
Kyle’s eyes seemed to light up. It seems that one of his first steps has already been accomplished. “How rich are we right now relative to the rest of the city? Top 5%, I assume?”
“Pe-rc-ent? What’s that? Actually, we’ve been in debt since three months ago to another gang called the Crimson Swords.”
Kyle’s eyes immediately lost their light, but he was unfazed. There was still a chance.
“How do other gangs make money?”
“In the same way. Generally, anything that is banned, the gangs handle it quite well, while paying the local administration to look the other way. Weapons, slaves, foreign goods, exotic animals, illegally mined arcite.”
“Arcite?”
“A mineral that provides energy, other than living beings and leylines. Something that powers weapons like your metal pipe.”
Kyle stared down at his enchanted metal pipe, which seemed an odd choice for the default weapon of gang members. However, after hearing the explanation of Damian, it was obvious generic weapons were banned too, hence the makeshift pipe.
“How big is our gang? This can’t be all the members, right? Where are the rest? I was told that we control an entire district.”
Damian was a bit ashamed, seeing Kyle ask it with such confidence. “This is the full strength. Twenty men are all we have. We barely have any money to recruit any more. We used to be bigger.”
Damian watched Kyle grip the metal pipe even harder, causing him to slightly tremble as Kyle’s face seemed to simmer with rage or disappointment.
Kyle pondered for a moment, before realizing something missing. “Are drugs banned? Psychedelics? Hallucinatory products?” Kyle tried every term he could think of.
“Ps-ki-eric-ks? What? If you’re talking about hallucinations, an engraved array or a potion would be able to inflict illusions. We have alchemists in the city, though such potions are ridiculously overpriced and hard to procure.”
A small smile appeared on Kyle’s face as he heard the keywords he wanted to hear, which only frightened Damian even more. It was the smile of a businessman knowing he’s found a hole in the market.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“This was supposed to be an easy fight!” A meaty hand slammed the wooden table, causing the map made out of parchment on the table and empty mugs of ale to tremble. The same hand pointed menacingly at a group of young men, who flinched slightly.
“All you had to do was win over that block, and instead you idiots turned it into an ugly fight that got one of the repayment fodder killed for nothing.” The owner of the hand berated the group, chiding them for their incompetence.
“It wasn’t our fault – Riker was too strong!” One of the guys complained, infuriated at the one-sided scolding.
“You’re useless, Damian. If I was there, I could easily beat him with one hand tied behind my back. Back in my heyday, I used to be the champion in this district! Me, Ulon Baktar! Even the Ardent Cretins knew about my name.” The gang leader of the Seven Snakes smacked his chest with that same meaty hand.
Then why don’t you go there and fight yourself, huh? Damian internally raged as Ulon Baktar went on a spiel about the good old days, and how the Seven Snakes used to be a great gang, controlling more than three districts in the South Sector. Now they were a small-time racket, barely a factor in the criminal underbelly of Raktor.
“Don’t you know how I became gang leader? I duelled the previous one as per tradition, winning easily! It is ALL of you, the useless trash that is dragging down the reputation we once had!” Ulon accused.
Before Ulon could continue his monologue any further, the door burst wide open, with Kyle Hawthorn entering, dragging the badly beaten-up Riker who was still slightly whimpering as his wounded limbs were continuously cut by the rough flooring. Kyle had Riker’s enchanted metal pipe strapped to his belt, his clothes still drenched in dried blood.
Tossing Riker to the side without care, Kyle walked up to face Ulon directly who was still sitting behind the table. “You are the gang leader of the Seven Snakes?” Kyle asked stoically.
“Al-Alvin, I heard from Damian you were badly hurt. They thought you dead! Where did you find Riker? Was it another gang that intervened?” Ulon was happy about seeing one of Red Lion’s goons in terrible shape, focusing on Riker’s bruised face with glee.
Kyle snapped his fingers once, a light but somehow extremely clear and attention-grabbing sound. “Answer the question.”
Ulon was slightly taken aback by the sheer confidence that Alvin now radiated. Instead of replying directly, Ulon was more angered by the fact that this lowly repayment fodder had the audacity to act like he was in charge. “Yes, I am your gang leader, and I order you to get back into formation behind Damian before I punish you again! Seems like the gang fight has made you forget how we run.”
“I heard you killed the previous leader in a duel. I challenge you to a duel for the position of gang leader.”
The entire room was shocked. The weak Alvin now suddenly standing up to Ulon? What in the world has gotten into him? He had just ‘come back’ from the dead.
Ulon squinted his eyes. “You do know it’s a life-or-death duel, no?”
Kyle didn’t respond, merely staring right at Ulon’s plump face, waiting for his reply. The nonchalant expression on Kyle’s face irked Ulon even more.
“Good, if you want to be beaten to death so much, I’ll happily oblige. I won’t be killing off my property so soon though!”
“Very well.” Kyle immediately delivered a strong frontal kick to the table, smacking right into Ulon and toppling him over in the chair. The table cracked apart in the middle of the force, causing Ulon to be caught off-guard and slightly disorientated from the shock.
Before Ulon could recover, Kyle grabbed the enchanted metal pipe from his waist, running up and smacking it as hard as he could on Ulon’s head. A loud snapping sound was heard, Ulon’s forearm shattering in a desperate attempt to block.
Instead of crying out, Ulon bore the pain and began to chant something, runes on his necklace glowing green. A green aura enveloped Ulon, healing the wound. “Hah, you think you can-“
Another quick smack on his arm interrupted Ulon, cracking his forearm again, followed by a flurry of rapid hits. Kyle wasn’t about to let Ulon heal normally, continuously whacking.
“Wai-WAIT! STOP!” Ulon screamed, sticking his other good arm out which was unceremoniously hit by the enchanted metal pipe too. Kyle whacked with consistency, never stopping and with a constant breath, as though he was pounding a dough of bread.
The beating continued for three minutes, the necklace’s glow beginning to faint. Ulon could barely talk now, his face a complete mess covered in blood and snot. Kyle finally grabbed the metal pipe with both arms, before smashing it right down on Ulon’s head, a soft little spurt echoing through the office.
None of the other members dared to move during the entire duel, shocked by the sheer brutality revealed by Alvin. It was as if a different human – no, a monster had awoken within Alvin.
Kyle was about to raise his metal pipe to hit Ulon again when a message appeared.
Kyle rested his bloodied metal pipe on his shoulders and bent over to rip Ulon’s necklace from his neck.
Kyle glanced around at the frightened gang members. “Anyone else want to try me?”
The gang members shook their heads rapidly, including Damian. While Ulon was a slob and a lazy leader, there was no doubt he was well-defended and had a solid constitution. The number of hits Kyle had to deliver to kill Ulon was a testimonial to that. Kyle didn’t even look tired out, his eyes still staring directly at them with rapt attention.
“No, leader.” Damian bowed immediately, a slight fear erupting on his face as he realized that Kyle could maybe beat all of them up without breaking a sweat.
“Good. From now on, the gang is under me. The name shall remain the same. Who’s the oldest gang member here?” Kyle asked.
The gang members looked at each other, completely confused about Alvin’s apparent memory loss. Did he really not remember anything about the gang? “I’ve been here the longest, about five years now, Alvin.”
“Ok, the rest of you, remove the two bodies and get out. You stay. Also, from now on my name is Kyle, got it?” Kyle motioned.
Expressions of utter confusion were apparent to the gang members. They begin to whisper among each other, wondering if Alvin finally went senile or was pushed to the edge by the near-death experience, creating a bipolar personality.
A loud and clear snap rang through the room again. “I said, got it?” Kyle stared them down with a stern expression, causing the rest of the gang members to nod their heads vigorously, exiting the room while carrying the dead Ulon and unconscious Riker.
Kyle kicked the broken table apart, retrieved the chair and sat down on it. “Name?”
“Alvin, do you not remember me? What happened to you in that fight? I swear I didn’t mean to abandon you, it’s just…” Damian rambled, before looking up into Kyle’s eyes, seeing that he was extremely serious and not in a joking manner. The blotches of blood that stained his clothes added even more intimidation.
“My name is Damian, leader.” Damian formally replied, to which Kyle finally nodded. “I’m going to be asking some questions. You will answer immediately and directly to the best of your abilities.” Damian nodded. Did he lose all his memories, and a bipolar personality took over or something?
“Good. I understand this city is known to be Raktor and is fairly large.”
“Yes sir, the city of Raktor is home to approximately eight million people. We are currently in the South Sector.” He did lose all his memories.
“What is the level of technology here?”
“Level of technology…? Well, everything runs on arctech, using arcane magic in machinery and so on. I’m not sure how to explain it…”
“Never mind. What’s the economical distribution of the city? Which industries are the largest?”
“Huh…?” Damian scratched his head, unsure of what the hell Alvin was asking.
Kyle frowned visibly, causing Damian to slightly tense up. “Let me ask it in a simpler way. How does this city make money? Do you have a currency system?”
“Ah yes, the city is a big trade hub, so most of the money comes from trading and services. There’s a few factories, but they are still fairly new and not scaled up yet, mostly research. The currency is rakels.”
“So a nascent industrialization society…”
“Na-sce-nt?”
“Ignore that. How does the Seven Snakes make money?”
“Oh, the usual. We provide protection services to traders and stall owners in this district as well as other shops. We also trade in alcohol and own a few brothels.”
“Alcohol?”
“Yes, wine, moonshine, the usual. There’s a citywide ban on alcohol now, so the gangs have been fighting for every inch of territory to cash in on potential customers. That was why we were fighting for that area, Alv… Kyle. Leader, sorry.”
Kyle’s eyes seemed to light up. It seems that one of his first steps has already been accomplished. “How rich are we right now relative to the rest of the city? Top 5%, I assume?”
“Pe-rc-ent? What’s that? Actually, we’ve been in debt since three months ago to another gang called the Crimson Swords.”
Kyle’s eyes immediately lost their light, but he was unfazed. There was still a chance.
“How do other gangs make money?”
“In the same way. Generally, anything that is banned, the gangs handle it quite well, while paying the local administration to look the other way. Weapons, slaves, foreign goods, exotic animals, illegally mined arcite.”
“Arcite?”
“A mineral that provides energy, other than living beings and leylines. Something that powers weapons like your metal pipe.”
Kyle stared down at his enchanted metal pipe, which seemed an odd choice for the default weapon of gang members. However, after hearing the explanation of Damian, it was obvious generic weapons were banned too, hence the makeshift pipe.
“How big is our gang? This can’t be all the members, right? Where are the rest? I was told that we control an entire district.”
Damian was a bit ashamed, seeing Kyle ask it with such confidence. “This is the full strength. Twenty men are all we have. We barely have any money to recruit any more. We used to be bigger.”
Damian watched Kyle grip the metal pipe even harder, causing him to slightly tremble as Kyle’s face seemed to simmer with rage or disappointment.
Kyle pondered for a moment, before realizing something missing. “Are drugs banned? Psychedelics? Hallucinatory products?” Kyle tried every term he could think of.
“Ps-ki-eric-ks? What? If you’re talking about hallucinations, an engraved array or a potion would be able to inflict illusions. We have alchemists in the city, though such potions are ridiculously overpriced and hard to procure.”
A small smile appeared on Kyle’s face as he heard the keywords he wanted to hear, which only frightened Damian even more. It was the smile of a businessman knowing he’s found a hole in the market.
“Now we’re getting somewhere.”
