“Sire, we have a problem,” came Lucian’s voice. “Do not speak, or make any loud noises. We have company. It would seem some people from your village have caught up to us.

“Well, they could be people from elsewhere and entirely unrelated to you. But… that seems unlikely considering they are following the trail you made. It’s a good thing we doubled back to find a spot to camp. This forest has proven to be quite handy so far.”

Yeah, yeah.

In other words, listen to your suggestions more often since you were the one to suggest doubling back. Got it, got it. Thanks, fathe—

Before Dominic could finish the thought, a crushing realization broke through his mind. His father was dead.

The man who had shown him kindness, love, discipline, and attended to his personal education, was gone. A man of indescribable strength and determination was no longer part of his life.

“It’s very likely these are the same people who killed your father and your uncle,” Lucian offered, as if reading his thoughts.

What had been a riot of thoughts a few seconds ago was now a frozen lake consisting of a single thought— kill those who had followed him all the way out here.

Grabbing the backpack, Dominic accessed it. Without considering what he was doing, he selected The End of the Line and drew it out.

Appearing in his hands was the weapon his father had used to tend to his job in the village.

Quest complete!

Axe You a Question: The Bloodline heirloom of your family has been found and claimed!

Bloodline weapon abilities unlocked!

Abilities?

Measuring six-and-a-half feet from the spiked butt of the weapon to the tip, it wasn’t really what anyone expected from an executioner’s axe. It had a hammer head on the back, with a spike at the top. The front of the weapon had a wide, wicked-looking axe blade with a flat cutting arc. That was the only expected part of it that made it look like it could be used as an executioner’s weapon.

His father had often commented that it took a lot of practice to use the axe for his job, and it wasn’t entirely suitable for it.

Dominic had always agreed with his father.

Based on its appearance, the weapon had always looked like something that belonged more in the hands of a knight. Doubly so, because the inlaid langets—and even the rivets that held them to the wood—had been carefully etched by a hand that spent hours on the work. It was a process that would have inflated the price considerably.

The cost of the weapon alone would have placed it in the hands of a warrior in full armor rather than the hands of a poor Villager who used it to kill criminals.

Except, as far as anyone in the village could remember, someone in Dominic’s family had always played the role of executioner. Their stipend was sent directly from the Fash family to the village elder, then relayed to the Randolph family head.

While Dominic had never truly wanted for anything, not a soul in his family had ever left the village for any reason. Anything they’d needed or wanted had to be purchased or traded for through intermediaries.

“It won’t feel right in your hands since you have no martial skills yet, but it should be good enough to kill these fools,” growled Lucian. “I imagine they poisoned your family or attacked them from an ambush. Your father had neither of his weapons on him, and likely neither did your uncle or your cousin.

“That or your family lost the paranoia that had kept them safe for this long. One must be paranoid when the whole of the world is an enemy.”

Holding it in both hands, Dominic looked at the haft of the weapon. His uncle had promised to train him in its use as a weapon—as he had his own poleaxe, though of much simpler quality—but those lessons had been few and far between.

Moving his hands to the spots where his uncle had instructed, Dominic felt ready. Or as ready as he would be.

“Go back to the trail where we were. Be quiet. There are three of them,” Lucian instructed. “With any luck, we can end one of them before they even have a chance to notice we’re there.”

Dominic nodded his head. He wouldn’t have any issues with burying his axe in someone’s back. At least not someone who was responsible for the death of his family.

Moving up the trail, what he saw ahead of himself was indeed someone’s back. They were completely unaware of anyone behind them and were, instead, entirely concentrating on what was in front of them.

As if they were on a hunt and all that mattered was reaching their prey.

Gritting his teeth, Dominic kept moving, gliding swiftly along the game trail and disturbing very little of the ground. This would be easier than the essays his father had made him write about economics.

A fleeting thought winged through his mind about making sure that this person was indeed guilty of his family’s deaths. He knew of no way for him to actually confirm that this man was responsible.

“As an Executioner, you’re able to see if someone is a bandit, rapist, or murderer. Those are all crimes that would fall under your domain,” whispered Lucian. Dominic didn’t think anyone else could hear Lucian, but it was obvious the Dragon was deep in the hunt with him. “It’s a skill of yours— Call to Account.”

With a frown, Dominic tried to use the skill on the man ahead of him. A simple blue rectangle appeared in front of him with two words.

Murderer. Uncharged.

“There. See? We’ll even have a bonus to melee attacks against him because he’s a murderer. Just like a Knight would. Run the spike through him. Aim for his heart, if possible. The spine is in the way and the heart’s much harder to hit from this angle, but… at least try for it. Worst case, you’ll hit a lung.”

Screw that.

I’ve got a damn hammer head on this thing.

I’ll ring his damn bell.

Drawing back the poleaxe, Dominic lined it up so that he could blast the hammer head against the side of the man’s skull. Then he swung it forward with all his might, letting his right hand slide down as he did so to increase the range and force of the impact.

There was a dull “thonk”, followed by the man simply crumpling to the side as the poleaxe slammed him off the game trail.

Critical hit!

Skull fracture!

Executed!

Logan Abal slain!

Ahead of the man, two others had been walking close to one another. Both had turned around and were now staring at Dominic.

Rushing forward and bringing the poleaxe up to his left side, Dominic readied himself for another strike. As soon as he was in range, he lunged forward with his weapon.

The top spike shot forward and slammed home into the man’s chest.

Vanishing right up to the top of the poleaxe, the spike impaled the man. Dominic had been aiming for the heart and felt like he’d managed it.

Critical hit!

Lung punctured!

Heart lacerated!

Those anatomy lessons weren’t so bad after all. Got him perfectly.

Groaning, the man fell to his knees as Dominic jerked his weapon back.

The third man shoved the second out of the way and raised his sword. He held it in a way that made it look like he actually knew how to use it.

In that moment, Dominic recognized him.

It was Brock, the oldest son of the village elder. A man who had gone out into the world, become a soldier, gotten kicked out, and then had come back home.

He was at least a Swordsman. Someone who had been promoted out of the starting Fighter class and received a number of skills to use in a fight.

Attractive, arrogant, and vicious— the man looked like the type who would sexually assault a woman if given a chance.

Dark-brown eyes, hair that was nearly black and hung to the level of his ears, he currently looked more sinister than anything else.

“So the little shit can fight, huh?” asked Brock.

Standing there, with his poleaxe raised and partially resting on his shoulder, Dominic waited. There was no reason to respond to him verbally. No reason to give him anything to work with at all.

He had reach advantage on the other man, and their sizes matched. Brock might be six foot but so was Dominic.

“Nothin’, huh?” asked Brock, slowly edging closer to Dominic.

“He most likely has Lunge as an ability. We have almost no armor at all,” Lucian warned. “If he hits our heart or lungs, we’d probably survive for a while but it’d easily halve our hit points. That doesn’t even take into account the bleeding it would cause.

“We could survive a gut hit or anywhere else with relative ease. Your hit point bar is quite solid, after all.

“Though, watch the distance. Also, be prepared to lunge at him just as quickly as he might at us. You may not have the Lunge skill, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lunge. It just won’t be as precise or clean as his would be.”

Dominic acted on that information and brought the poleaxe around, putting it out in front of himself. The head of the weapon was held low, almost like a spear.

Immediately, Brock backed off a step, putting himself a bit further away and likely out of range. He seemed very much on edge and aware of Dominic and his weapon. Brock wasn’t underestimating him at all.

The longer Dominic held the weapon, though, the more comfortable he felt. At first, the long length of the weapon had made him feel somewhat awkward.

Though it still felt a bit too tall for him.

“You’ll grow a bit more and it’ll fit your height. Most men in your line have all been roughly the same height,” Lucian offered. “It’s part of the Bloodline. And yes, I can read some of your thoughts, but not all of them. You can block me out from them later.”

Deciding to attack first, Dominic thrust out with the spiked head of his weapon.

Brock responded and caught the weapon with his guard and shoved back at Dominic. He managed to push it upward and back, though not far.

Taking a step backward after the attack was defeated, Dominic once again increased his distance. So long as he could keep Brock back, he had the advantage.

“That it?” asked Brock, his eyes narrowing.

Okay… I can’t win in an elongated fight. Can I? He’s going to think I’ve not got much, which I don’t, and he’ll work to finish it.

So… so… I use it to my advantage.

Okay, yes. Let’s do the same thing, he’ll push the head up, then stab him with the butt of the poleaxe. I have the reach and leverage.

Uncle said every part is a weapon, use it as such.

The sword only has two edges.

“Stab him with the ferrule, actually. Though… butt works, too,” murmured Lucian.

Grimacing, trying to look the part of someone who wasn’t sure what was going on, Dominic stabbed out in the same way he just had. Thrusting forward with the spike once more.

Brock again blocked it, letting it lock up against his hilt, just as he did last time. Then he pushed hard, attempting to throw Dominic’s weapon high and to the side.

Letting the movement carry his poleaxe backward, Dominic swung the bottom of his weapon around to the front. Then brought his full weight down, stabbing the ferrule into the top of Brock’s kneecap.

The spear-like tip sank in quite easily.

Debilitating strike!

Ligament cut!

With a scream, Brock lashed out with his left hand which no longer held the sword. Slamming a fist across Dominic’s chin, Brock knocked his head to one side.

Stunned!

Ten-second status ailment!

Dominic felt like his bell had been rung with that punch. The blow caused him to stumble backward.

Not wanting to let the other man catch him while he shook off the effects, Dominic just kept moving. Making his way backward and away from Brock, he gained more and more distance.

Brock had, of course, tried to follow, but nearly lost his footing when he put weight on his damaged knee. It was as if the joint could no longer support his full weight.

Instead, the man once again fell into a swordsman’s defensive posture. His lead leg was the damaged one, and it was not holding much of his weight at all.

“Rotten fucking bastard!” squealed Brock, pressing his left hand to his damaged knee. His right hand was still holding his one-handed sword.

Looking at Brock, even as the world swam back and forth in front of him, Dominic felt rather pleased. Glancing at the small status bar in the corner of his view, Dominic saw that the little red box displaying the stunned debuff was almost done. The timer was only seconds away from reaching zero.

Additionally, his health bar had only dipped a small bit. He had only lost perhaps ten or twenty hit points.

Kinda nice having so many hit points.

I wonder if this is what being a tank is like.

Grinning, Dominic snorted and then spat what tasted like blood off to one side.

“Says someone who probably murdered my family in cold blood,” replied Dominic. “After you’re dead, I’m going to dump your bodies far from here. Far from these woods.

“Let the animals pick you all clean. Maybe take your heads and bury them just to make sure no one can identify you.”

Growling, Brock seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but here now. Though he wouldn’t be able to get far if he tried to escape, nor could he really run down Dominic either.

“You’ll die here,” said Dominic with a feral smile as the status ailment left him. The shaking in his knees faded, as well as the strange way everything was bending and shivering.

Dominic was simply no longer stunned.

Moving forward again, Dominic started to close in on Brock.

“If you kill me, they’ll never let you go,” hissed Brock.

“You were already here to kill me and had chased me quite a ways,” murmured Dominic. “You and yours were never going to let me go, anyway.

“Though, I’m curious… was this at the order of the Fash family? Did they get tired of dealing with the Randolphs?”

“As if—”

Not actually waiting for Brock to finish talking, Dominic drew back his poleaxe. Flipping it around with the hammer side out, he brought his hands close together on the haft.

He had every intention of swinging hard at Brock’s head and shoulders. There would be nothing he could do to stop the swing once it was oncoming either.

As if realizing the same thing, Brock wound his arms to swing at Dominic’s weapon directly. It would more than likely break the sword, but it was his best chance to knock the attack away.

Dominic, however, didn’t swing it as the man expected.

Instead, he brought the weapon around, moved his hand up the haft, and swung it short. Far and away from where Brock had been expecting it.

His sword whistled through the air and accomplished little else.

Sliding his right hand down to where his left held it at the base, Dominic thrust forward once again.

Again, he scored a direct hit. The spike of his weapon smashed into Brock’s chest.

Critical hit!

Lung punctured!

“Damn, missed the heart,” muttered Dominic as Brock let go of his weapon. The man pressed a hand to his chest and took a strange breath. “Not sure how many hit points you got left or how long that debuff will last but… I’ll finish you cleanly.”

Approaching the other man, Dominic reached out with a booted foot and shoved Brock over onto his back on the game trail.

Moving up beside the man, Dominic flipped his poleaxe over so the blade was facing down now.

“You’ll be my first real execution. Last words?” Dominic asked, raising the poleaxe above his head.

“Yeah, go—”

Bringing the blade down with a thump, Brock’s head was cleanly severed from his neck.

“Oh, sorry. Your words weren’t worth anything, so no real loss, I guess,” Dominic said, flicking the blood off the poleaxe blade before hefting the weapon up onto his shoulder.

A second later, a blue rectangle appeared in front of Dominic.

Battle won!

Calculating experience!

“Goodie, how long will that take?” Dominic asked and looked down the game trail. The other two men that he’d previously attacked were on the ground and unmoving. They didn’t appear to be among the living.

“They were living people, not monsters, so experience will take a little longer than normal, but not too long. Probably thirty seconds. While I have no love for the deities, they do tend to work very quickly with this kind of thing,” Lucian responded with satisfaction in his voice. “Good work. Criminal scum like that deserved to die.”

Dominic wasn’t going to take any chances though.

Walking over to each body, he severed their heads without a word. Collecting the three heads, he went farther into the woods and tossed them up into the trees. He made sure each one was caught in the branches.

Experience earned!

Gained 387 experience!

“Huh, doesn’t seem like that much,” complained Dominic.

“Killing other people always yields a strange amount of experience. Although in this case, I suspect it’s also due to your axe,” offered Lucian.

Walking back to the corpses, Dominic considered that.

Lifting the weapon—his weapon—he wasn’t sure what to make of that. He didn’t have any Analyze, Appraise, or Inspect skills that would let him understand how it worked.

“The axe will take a part of the power of anything it kills and reinforce itself with it,” Lucian explained in a quiet tone. “Your father was able to feed it with every execution he performed, so it was quite strong.

“After his passing, however, it reverted back to its base stats. You will have to work to feed it so it can once again grow into what it once was.”

“Oh, good. I needed another mouth to feed,” grumbled Dominic. Searching through the corpses, he found they had nothing of actual value other than their clothes and weapons.

Brock had a sword, while the other two had simple clubs.

Their clothes were all mostly ruined through use and dying in them. A fresh-made corpse tended to soil itself rather quickly.

Dominic dumped the three weapons into his pack, dragged all three bodies deep into the woods, and continued on his journey.

With any luck, no one else would be coming after him.

“Let’s move much deeper into the woods and then continue our progress,” Dominic muttered, leaving the game trail entirely. He didn’t care for the fact that he’d been so easy to follow.

“Agreed,” said Lucian.