I opened my eyes slowly. The morning sun struggled through the gaps in the shutters of the Golden Griffin. Golden dust danced on the floorboards. My internal reactor worked silently. I was fully regenerated after yesterday's slaughter at the Marquis's estate. I took a deep breath. Cool air filled my lungs, and I stretched lazily. My shoulders popped with a dry crack of released tension.
I quickly registered a slight movement in the room. Shnee was awake. She sat on the edge of my bed. Her fingers clutched the mattress. The vibrations of her aura betrayed a deep fear. This terror smoldered in her since the moment I used pure strength to shatter the anti-magic steel on her neck. She watched me with tension. In her snowy diamond eyes, predatory fascination mixed with the fear of a prey facing a new predator.
I sat up, resting my elbows on my knees. I scratched my neck. I yawned shortly, completely ignoring her tension.
"Lord..." she began, and her voice trembled slightly. "That iron alloy... it was saturated with system blockades. No known mage could even scratch it. You simply tore it apart."
I fixed a cold gaze on her.
"Call me Dave," I cut off firmly, destroying this pathetic tone at the root. "And take that terrified expression off your face. That collar was just trash. I am not interested in relationships based on slave chains. That is primitive and incredibly boring."
She froze. She did not expect this from someone who massacred an aristocrat just yesterday. I got off the bed. The coldness of the boards pleasantly hit my bare feet.
"Change into what Elena left yesterday," I threw over my shoulder, putting on my black coat. "I am waiting downstairs."
I ran down the creaky stairs to the main room. The tavern smelled of burning wood and roasted meat. Elena was wiping the countertops. At the sight of me, she smiled with visible relief. The night passed peacefully.
"Good morning, Dave," she said softly. "Is everything alright with... her?"
"Physically yes," I answered, sitting at my regular table. "Mentally she has a severe lag, but we will pull her out of it. Give me the usual. Double."
A moment later, Shnee appeared on the stairs. She wore an oversized shirt and simple pants. Despite the worn material, her exotic beauty immediately caught the attention of early patrons. She approached the table, shifting uncertainly from foot to foot. She lowered her gaze.
"Dave..." she swallowed hard. "Can I ask for at least a piece of dry bread?"
I leaned heavily against the oak counter.
"Sit down," I said in an uncompromising tone. "Forget about dry bread. You are with me now. In my company, no one eats scraps. You will eat exactly the same thing as me."
Elena silently placed a steaming plate in front of her. A mountain of scrambled eggs with bacon and slices of bread. Shnee stared at the meal like a historical relic. She started to eat. First with hesitation. Then with the murderous appetite of someone who starved for years in cages. The base was slowly gaining a hard sense of stability. I ate my portion in silence, watching her out of the corner of my eye.
After breakfast, we walked out into the streets of Oakhaven. The city pulsed with noise. It stank of horse sweat, cheap spices, and gutter mud. I walked at a slow pace. I kept my hands deep in my pockets. I did not use magic. I purposely released only a minimal fraction of my body's density outside.
Ordinary merchants instinctively stepped aside before us. They formed an empty path in the dense crowd. They did not understand why. Their instinct screamed to get out of the predator's way. Shnee walked right behind me. She absorbed this spatial dominance with growing intrigue. No one bothered us. No one dared to cast even a crooked glance.
A sudden squeal snapped me out of this walk.
The sound came from a narrow alley. I stopped. Three thugs in leather armors cornered a petite girl with rabbit ears against a damp wall. She had a rusted collar around her neck. The massive thug just delivered a brutal kick to her thigh.
"Give it here, before I tear off those funny ears!" he roared. His companions chuckled with satisfaction.
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The same scheme again. Zero class. I sighed heavily, adjusting my coat collar.
"Wait here," I threw to Shnee.
I entered the alley. The clatter of my soles echoed off the walls. Three thugs turned towards me with complaints.
"Are you lost, boys?" I asked coldly, stopping a meter away from them. "You are ruining my walk."
The leader, a massive brute missing half his teeth, spat at my feet. He rested his hand on the pommel of his sword. "Fuck off, pretty boy. This is our merchandise."
I smiled brazenly. In a fraction of a second, I closed the distance to zero. The thug did not even have time to blink. My hand clamped on his wrist. I used a hydraulic press. I applied the brutal physics of crushing.
A disgusting crack resounded. The bones broke.
The man howled. He fell to his knees. I did not let him go. I released just a drop of raw aura. The sapphire pressure hit the remaining two like an invisible wall. The air hardened, taking their breath away.
"Merchandise?" I hissed icily. "I only see three piles of shit here. You have one second to disappear. Before I utilize you on the spot."
In absolute panic, they rushed to escape. They stumbled over their own feet, dropping their weapons. I kicked the kneeling leader in the chest, throwing him out of the alley. He rolled across the pavement and disappeared. Ordinary trash.
I looked at the terrified girl. She cowered under the wall. She covered her face with her hands. I approached her. I grabbed the iron collar on her neck. I jerked lightly. The rusted metal snapped with a dull grind and fell to the ground. The girl froze in shock. I threw a silver coin at her feet. In this deflationary economy, it was a fortune. Capital to escape the city.
"Disappear," I threw indifferently. I turned on my heel. I waved away an annoying fly buzzing in front of my face.
When I returned to Shnee, her eyes were wide open. She saw me break iron for a whim once again. I used mere pure logic.
"Let's go," I said loosely. "We have shopping to do."
We headed straight to the "Golden Needle". It was the most snobbish boutique in Oakhaven. The bloated owner immediately measured Shnee's bare feet with a contemptuous gaze. She opened her mouth to throw us out onto the street. I placed three silver coins on the glass counter. I released a fraction of my sapphire pressure. The air around the woman became leaden. It blocked her lungs. The seamstress turned pale, lowered her gaze, and rushed to serve us. Half an hour later, Shnee emerged from the back room. She wore a dark silk dress. The material perfectly accentuated her murderous silhouette.
The next stop was Grimir's forge. It smelled of smoke and hot slag. I bought leather armor lined with steel. Shnee approached the weapon rack. She grabbed a balanced silvery rapier. Grimir huffed under his breath. "You are wasting my time. That toothpick requires precision, not shaking hands!" the craftsman growled, leaning against the anvil. I nodded to the elf. Her center of gravity dropped instantly. The blade whistled in the air three times. She did it with such absurd speed that she left behind only silver afterimages. No ordinary creature could cut like that. Grimir blinked in shock and closed his mouth. I poured silver onto the anvil.
"We will take it," I threw loosely.
In the late afternoon, we returned to the Griffin. I closed the door to my room on the upper floor behind us. I slid the iron bolt. A heavy silence fell. Shnee in her new armor and with a weapon at her belt finally looked the way she should. Absolutely dangerous. I sat comfortably on the chair, leaning against the backrest.
"Alright, Shnee. The free ride is over," I began slowly, fixing a hard gaze on her. "You have new equipment, clothes, and regained dignity. You no longer look like trash from a cage. Time for specifics".
Her snowy diamond eyes narrowed. She rested her hand on the hilt of the rapier. "What will you demand in return, Dave?" she asked quietly. I smiled brazenly. "I demand a decision. You have two paths. First: you take all this, walk out that door, and you are free. No one from this rundown city will chase you. You have my word". "And the second?" she interrupted me, crossing her arms on her chest. "You stay. You will be my First Pillar," my voice hardened, losing the Brazen chill. "If you choose this, I am informing you that I will train you. And those training sessions will be incredibly brutal. I will not give you a discount. It is an absolute necessity. Only in this way will we break your biological limits. I will make you a creature more powerful than anyone from the elves in history".
I paused, letting those words settle properly. I stood up from the chair and approached her at arm's length. "I require absolute loyalty," I continued, looking straight into her eyes. "When I say kill, you kill. But I need an intelligent blade that understands whom and why it utilizes, not a mindless doll. And there is one more condition". Her breath accelerated slightly as she waited in suspense. "Being my Pillar means being my woman. You belong to my structure. And that, in turn, means that from now on you are under my unconditional protection. Anyone who tries to touch you will be utilized by me on the spot".
Silence fell. Shnee did not answer immediately. Her predatory nature dictated caution. For an equal minute, only the steady ticking of the clock could be heard in the room. The girl looked at the floor, analyzing the variables. Freedom sounded beautiful. But her pure logic quickly applied a filter of brutal realism to it. Freedom in this world, without backing and power, is just an illusion. She would again become prey for the stronger. On the other hand, staying with a Brazen monster offered strength she never dreamed of, providing the protection she craved so much.
The calculation came to an end. She lifted her head. There was no shadow of hesitation in her eyes. Fanatical determination radiated from them. She took a step forward, reducing our distance. "Freedom without strength is an illusion," she said coldly, standing right in front of me. "I accept your conditions. I will break my limits. I will be your most powerful blade. And I will be your woman".
She chose my shadow. The Pillar was finally cemented. I smiled with satisfaction. The base gained its sharpest foundation.