34 Fair game

Harrison was walking along the major road of the town. He was observing the people he met and greeted the ones who greeted him. The town was not crowded as most inhabitants were out in the fields or doing work in their workshops.

As he was meditating while walking he didn't pay much attention to the man who was following him. The man was just a little bit taller than Harrison at 12-years-old. He was wearing a brown cap and a brown jacket with gray pants. The clothes he wore were rather worn out and dirty. His shoulder-length brown hair was greying out and was so greasy that didn't defy the effects of gravity one bit.

The man was invisible for most of the people he met. As he was passing them they usually turned their head and sped up their steps. They knew he was not of the friendly sort and most of them also knew his background.

He called himself Silverclaw, and he was the younger brother of a local thug. His real name though was nowhere close to impressive, as his father named him what could be translated to a little dog. Kershun was the little runt in the family and he hated his father and mother with vigor.

His father beat him and his mother let his father beat him or even joined him. His and his brother's life was a living nightmare from the start.

He hated his mother for being with his father most of all. His nightmare finally ended as his brother killed their father, left the town and became a bandit. After that he and his brother became nightmares for countless people. On one of his raids his big brother got a nice dagger which he gifted to the little dog. It was his prized possession; a silver dagger.

Luckily for him his brother was a lot more protective of him than his father and mother were. The big brother named Darshun got him out of countless troubles by bribing the local officials. Darshun was also a victim of his father's awful naming sense as he was called Evil dog.

Since they were both by now well known and since he has been warned by the same corrupt officials, they didn't bother the locals and the locals didn't bother them.

It was a win-win situation for the people in power and the criminals. The criminals paid them for being able to operate in their territory. As long as they were not doing it too close to home the officials protected them from punishment fitting their crimes.

With time the little brother was getting cocky, and he harassed the locals. Nothing major. A couple of thefts here and there whenever he came back to town. This time his eyes caught sight of a fat prey which filled him with excitement. What was even more exciting was that the prey was intent on leaving the town.

He was still racking his brains on how he could rob Harrison without being seen in the middle of the day when he noticed him walking towards the exit of the town. Thanking his lucky stars he followed him like a shadow.

In the town he had plenty of cover hiding behind the houses but as they left it he became a lot more conspicuous. He was skulking in and out of bushes by the road as Harrison made his way towards the underwear marker.

Harrison had a nagging feeling even in the town that he was being watched but was not able to confirm it with so many people around. Leaving the town this task became much easier and when he turned around unexpectedly a few times he saw a figure dash into the bushes.

He could not see who it was but by their stature he figured it was one of the kids who ambushed him a few days ago.

As he came close to the marker he pretended to have stomach problems by holding his belly and entered the forest.

He hid behind a big tree crouching behind it, waiting for what his shadow would do.

Harrison checked his energy and contemplated if he should arm himself with a sword. He decided against it just because the element of surprise was more useful than his swordsmanship skills.

The shadow did not disappoint, and he came quickly rushing inside the forest afraid he would lose him with the decreased visibility. The forest in his mind was also the perfect place for his intentions.

As Kershun rushed following Harrison's tracks he came upon an enormous tree and as he almost passed it he heard a voice.

"What do you want? Why are you following me?"

Kershun's first reaction was to flee as if he forgot why he came here in the first place but after a few paces he remembered.He stopped and on his face there was a sinister smile.

He was showing his yellow teeth of which more than half were missing and the rest were half rotten.

"Be a good boy and give me all your money!" Kershun said as he turned around.

"Are you sure you want to rob me. I am a guest of the city magistrate." Harrison said trying with reason to get the man to back off.

"I said give me all your money! I don't care whose guest you are!" Kershun responded and spat on the ground.

Harrison by then already had an inkling that only one of the two people here will leave this forest alive. If he was not swayed at the mention of the magistrate and he is not hiding his face, he will probably try to shut him up for good after he gets the money. He contemplated trying to run away but he could somehow tell the man child was faster than him in running.

Kershun was creeping closer to Harrison as if afraid he would spook him.

"So will you leave if I give you money?" Harrison asked, pretending he still believed in fairy tales.

"Take off your clothes too! Then I will leave." Kershan was already grinning at the cowardly young master completely letting his guard down. He noticed the boy didn't even have a dagger.

'It would be a waste to ruin those nice clothes with your blood.' Kershun thought.

Harrison took off his jacket and held it in front of him in his left hand and said, "The money is in the pockets."

As Kerhun got almost near enough to take it from him he let it go and the jacket fell towards the dirty ground. Kershun who by now dropped his guard instinctively tried to catch it as it was falling crouched and leaned forward. He almost had it as Harrison's right arm moved from below and a sword materialized in it which impaled Kershun through the neck.

The whole fight was over just like that. Kershun couldn't even let out a groan as he fell sideways. Harrison returned the sword to his inventory, and the blood started flowing out of the wound even faster.

The lifeless eyes and the wicked grin still on his mouth were imprinted in Harrison's mind forever. He sat down and contemplated what had just happened.

"I killed a man." Harrison whispered.

"Should I feel guilty?"

"Why don't I feel anything?"

He closed the +47 energy message and put his back on the enormous tree.

'I don't feel a thing. Am I a psychopath? Maybe because he would do the same thing to me?' Harrison tried to rationalize his numbness.

"Whatever." He picked himself up from the ground and walked to the corpse. He took all of his clothes minus the dirt and also stuffed the corpse in his inventory. It cost him a lot of energy but the owner of the corpse paid the bill anyway.

The owner didn't have much money. Just a few bronze coins.This was also probably the reason he was so desperate to find a target in town. The only thing of value on him was his weapon.

Looking at the shiny silverish dagger he found in the inventory he clicked analyze.

---------------------------------

Item name: Sharp dagger

Quality: Medium

Durability: 95/100

Damage: 5-10

Special effects: none

Description: A sharp dagger product of a master blacksmith's inferior work. Made from an unknown alloy.

---------------------------------

"Medium quality?" Harrison exclaimed as he checked the description.

With that Harrison went back towards the road and found the underwear marker. He went to the opposite side of it and went deep into the woods before dumping the body into an abandoned lair of a big animal and returning.

He checked his energy while walking and he had 42 left.

Harrison still had plenty of time before dinner so he decided to visit the waterfall. Walking by the now familiar path he once again thought about him killing another human being. He was afraid that this episode today was a sign of things to come.

"Whatever. As long as it's not me or people I care about." He said out loud gritting his teeth and making a fist. It was his declaration to this world. He will not back down. He will survive it and make sure to help people he cares about survive it too.