《A Tale of the Ages: Gods, Monster, and Heros》Chapter 16 The Lighter HalFs end
Advertisement
Hal walked down the cobbled streets toward the labor guild. The roads were mostly open around this time, and most who were on the streets had a goal in mind. The few individuals that did loiter were given a wide birth by everyone to avoid any potential trouble they might cause. Hal took care to follow suit in avoiding those that stood around but also to avoid stepping in any puddles on the uneven road. It hadn't rained in the past week to Hals knowledge, and he'd prefer to show up to his first day of work as clean as he could.
The majority of the building along the road were built of the same combination of wood, stone, and whatever filler material was available at the time of construction. On occasion, Hal saw a building constructed entirely of wood, with a bit of opaque glass, these were, more often than not, a business of some kind. They weren't the only places of business, by any means, just the most prominent and the cleanest looking.
The labor guild wasn't anything fancy. It was a short, long, stone building with small openings in the side and a person sitting behind each. Every window had a short line in front of it of all kinds of people. Young, old, dirty, clean, strong, weak, almost any type of person could be seen lined up. Seeing a line mostly formed of younger people, Hal took his spot an waited to reach the front.
The line moved smoothly, each person was dealt with promptly, either rejected for whatever work they applied for or told were in the city they needed to go to complete today's job. Most of those in line already knew what they were trying to do, but occasionally someone new would show up in one of the queues, and the staff member would start asking questions about what they could do. Hal was expecting the same treatment when he reached the front of his line but was given an entirely different reaction than he anticipated.
"You, from The Old Man?" Said the man at the window.
"Yes, sir," Hal answered quickly and politely.
"You new?" Said the man in a brisk tone.
"Yes, sir," Hal responded.
"Name?"
"Hal," Hal chose not to give his full name.
"Alright, take this slip and head to the location described. Give the slip to the man in charge, he'll put you to work for the day." The man said swiftly. "I assume that you can read if you came from The Old Man?" The man asked almost as an afterthought.
Hal nodded before speaking, "What kind of work is it?" Asked Hal curiously.
"Don't know, probably delivery or something else like that. You'll collect your pay from the manager on-site at the end of the day. NEXT." The man's voice wasn't callous or dismissive, just hurried.
Hal didn't have much choice but to move away from the window and look at the direction written on the slip of parchment in his hand.
Advertisement
>Well, it's showtime Tinct, >Yes, it is,
Hal carried the formerly heavy bag down the road. When he'd gotten to the job site, he'd received a sack filled to the brim with packages, had a set of instruction rattled off at him as swiftly as the person speaking could handle, and been told to deliver the contents of the bag to the locations on the labels by the end of the day. He had been informed by someone else that he should be especially cautious about getting the confirmation of delivery before handing over the product. If he didn't return with the proof for every destination, he wouldn't receive any pay.
So far, everyone had been accommodating about yielding the confirmation to Hal before he handed over the parchment wrapped sacks of unknown contents. Now at the last delivery site, Hal expected this to be much the same. Raising his hand, Hal knocked on the door of the house.
The building was deep in the slums, constructed from whatever scraps the builder had available. Many of the houses surrounding it were either blatantly falling apart, or barely livable. Still, this one stood just a bit stronger than it's neighbors, suggesting that the person inside cared for the building, or had others do it for them.
>Something is wrong. >What do you mean? >I don't know. Whatever it is, it feels slimy.
Before Hal could investigate what elicited such a reaction from his companion, the door to the house opened with a hideous creaking sound, revealing a portly man with oily skin and a flat nose, an orc.
"What do you want, kid?" The large man asked gruffly.
"I have a delivery for you." Speaking with a smile, Hal didn't let his internal unease show on his face or in his voice.
"Alright, here's the confirmation." The greasy man handed over a folded piece of parchment and held his hand out for the wrapped item.
After passing over the package, Hal hurried back to the job site while stuffing the confirmation into his bag alongside the others.
>Guess your feeling was off this time Tinct, >That appears to be the case.
"What is this?" The manager said while holding up a blank creased piece of parchment for Hal to see.
"I.. I don't... I don't know." Hals stuttered out the response.
"Well, whatever it is, it's not a delivery confirmation. You know I can't pay you unless you either come back with the item or a confirmation, right?" The manager said sternly and swiftly, not giving Hal a chance to speak. "Either you go get the confirmation, or you get my package back. If you can manage that before sunset, you'll get your pay, otherwise, you get nothing." The manager spoke in a dismissive tone before walking away from Hal to deal with someone else.
>What do we do Tinct, I don't know who gave us the fake confirmation, >I do. That orc. He's one of the only ones that handed us a folded parchment. >How'd you rule out the others? >The one, the manager, showed us had a grease stain, >I didn't notice it, but I'll trust you,
Advertisement
Back in front of the greasy man's house and hopeful about finishing this quickly. Hal knocked on the door far more aggressively than he had previously, leaving a small dent in the door's brittle wood.
The door opened with the same creaking from before, and the same greasy man was on the other side.
"What do you want, kid?" The large man asked gruffly.
"I came to get the delivery confirmation," Hal said boldly.
"Alright, wheres my package?" The man said, taking on a disgusting smile.
"Uh, you already have it," Hal responded in a confused tone. This was not going how he'd hoped.
"Well, then you should already have the confirmation." The man took on a sickening tone that imitated joy while speaking. "If that's all, I am in the middle of something, so do run along. HAHAHA," The man's laugh could be heard even after he'd slammed the door in Hal's face.
>What do we do? >Hal, let me do something. Don't watch. >Alright,
Rapidly Hal's features took on a far more horrendous tone. His skin turned green, his black nails grew into claws. His veins felt like fire was rushing through them and they pressed against his skin. His lips split into a bestial grin, and his eyes started glowing an acid green while the pupils become much narrower.
Knocking harder than Hal had previously, leaving a visible break in the panels of the door, Instinct waited for the fat man to open the door.
When the door creaked inward, before the disgusting being on the other side could speak, Instincts clawed hand flashed into the house and grabbed the greasy collar of his shirt, pulling him out into the light of the setting sun.
"WHAAA' The fat man screamed in surprise at being so forcefully pulled around by someone much smaller than he.
Instinct dragged the man into the middle of the street and onto his knees so that he had to look up to see the acidic glow of Instinct's eyes. The feat was harder than Instinct would have liked because of the filth's expanded waste.
"I believe you have something that belongs to us. Hand it over," Instinct's command was cold and emotionless.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Now let me go." The fat man said while trying. Unsuccessfully, to pull Instinct's hand away from his shirt.
Calmy reaching his spare hand up to the wrist of the creature before him, Instinct spoke again. "You know exactly what we want. Hand it over, or I break your wrist. Then, your arm. After those, we'll see what comes next." The promise was as flat as almost anything else he said, but Instinct's glowing eyes grew brighter with the warning.
"You wouldn't, you couldn't." The pig did not seem to believe that the child holding him was actually capable of following through on his words. Taking on a much more confident tone than his position afforded the filth spoke even further. "Besides, I told you, Without a package, I won't give you the confirmation, and if you are telling the truth about having delivered it already, why don't you have th... AHHHHH"
Instinct did not wait for the greasy pig to finish speaking. Opting instead to deliver on the promise he'd made previously. The pig's wrist had given easily under the strength of Instincts grasp, snapping with as little resistance as a large branch.
"Hand it over, or the arm is next." Instinct promised coldly.
"It's in my pocket," The man cried while reaching into his pants.
With a speed that was in contrast to his massive frame, the fat man produced a small dagger from his pocket and stabbed it into Instincts arm, causing him to release his grip on the fat creature's shirt.
"HAH, see kid, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO ACT TOUGH. NOW RUN ALong before, before.." The pig's threat of further harm was cut short when he saw Instinct reach up and calmly pull the dagger from his arm and the wound in his arm close at a visible rate.
"And I was trying to do this the easy way, on behalf of my brother." Instinct said, in reference to Hal. "Well, looks like we will be using a different method." Instinct took on a stance reminiscent of a beast before lunging at the fat man with significantly more speed than he'd used previously.
To his credit, the fat man did manage to land a heavy blow to Instinct's stomach before having all of his limbs snapped in half. While wailing in the streets of the slums, the man had revealed the location of the delivery confirmation along with a small pouch of coins that Instinct took as well.
With the parchment and the coins in his pockets, Instinct leaped onto the roofs of the building to rush back to the job site before sunset, at which point he returned control to Hal with a simple sentence.
>You'll be sore tomorrow, don't push yourself, and eat well tonight.Dhakhaan rhaan der o.Fate be with you.
Hal didn't question Tinct on what he'd done to get the confirmation, he didn't question the blood on the arm of his shirt, or the hole, and he didn't question the pouch of coins he found in his pocket. All he did was walk to the manager and hand over the delivery confirmation and collect his pay.
"In retrospect, both of my brothers should have been more observant of the other, as they had just caused the end of the lighter half of my childhood. Even if I didn't know it yet," I spoke to the person across the fire, to the best of my crippled voices ability. "Before you ask, this was long before my brother became one, became me, and long before the world of today, but it's all relevant to your question."
Advertisement
- In Serial11 Chapters
Feral: The Story of a Half Orc
Char has lived in Jarvin his entire life, subjected to hatred and suspicion for his Half-Orc heritage. He avoids the crowd, only wanting to focus on his blacksmithing and runes. Right up until the girl who is prophesized to save the world decides to become his friend, pulling him into assassination plots, conspiracies, and caves full of giant spiders. Yay?
8 164 - In Serial43 Chapters
How to Survive a Summoning 101
Do you dare visit Sangraal? Death was supposed to be the end for Rigel. Unfortunately, he caught the interest of a vile god. Ripped away from his world and all that he held dear, Rigel is thrust into the ruthless world of Sangraal, where gods walk amongst mortals. Rigel must gather all his wits and dirty tricks to survive this brutal and unforgiving world. Meanwhile, his inner darkness threatens to twist him into something he doesn’t want to be. To navigate the quagmires of lies and betrayal, Rigel needs power. But power comes at a price. For Rigel, that price might be too high. Rated 'D' for Dark! ( Cover Art: Sleeping Soul In The Sky)
8 206 - In Serial80 Chapters
To Cross the Threshold
What would one do, when a star crashes into the Earth? Die, of course! Except, in Joseph's case, it was all wrong. He met face-to-face with the Light, got the program forced into his brain, and woke up far, far away from his small insignificant hometown, in the ethereal endless void, full of stars and vigour, guns and loot, Daemons and Skills! From there on out, he got volunteered into the crew of the Morning Star, the pirate ship he was unfortunate enough to stumble upon. With a tree for the Captain, a dragoncat for the Quartermaster, and a human, equal in height and width, as the Cook, he sets sail across the mysterious and hostile Threshold, filled with fierce abominations, rich Ghosts, and patriotic soldiers from the Glorious Metal Empire, all to figure out what the Light has brought upon his Earth that day, and to find his way back home. Warning - English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any inconsistencies and grammar mistakes. Please, do point them out when you find some. Updates three days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This book is about the slice-of-life-ish lighthearted adventures of Joseph and Co. Just one long bumpy road, inspired by old-school RPGs.
8 158 - In Serial15 Chapters
Hanging out with the Mutants
In a certain universe, there are humans who have developed superpowers called 'mutants'. A guy who can read minds; a guy who can bend metals with a thought; a guy with metal claws coming out of his hands; a woman who can control things with her mind; and so much more. There is one guy, who neither have superpowers or any mutations, but is hanging out with them. What they did not know is that he has something much stronger. This is his adventure.
8 121 - In Serial20 Chapters
Morning ℂoffee ♨
"His eyes are like the dark abyss of space, when he meet her suddenly his dark space was fill with light."Sebastian and Naomi are two completely different people. Sebastian a wealthy, well known, giant of a man. He is the sole owner of his company, rated the sexist bachelor in the whole world. But, he is also cold, ruthless, and unforgiving. Naomi a shy but sassy, full figured black woman. At first glance she is a normal middle class every day person, but that is far from true. This black haired beauty holds a secret that she keeps close to her. Can these two very different people, form very different class ever over come what is going to be thrown at them? Or will they both fall in a hail of bullets?Cover By: kreachermuch (Awesome much!)#424 In Romance#4 in interracial Romance
8 197 - In Serial23 Chapters
MXTX Memes just because why not
Memes... what else is there to sayActually something can be said. This is a meme book of MXTX with ships, non-canon, funny stuff, sad stuff, pretty stuff and, random stuff. And that's all that's needed to be said. :)
8 119