GUARD: Interrogation.
Stripe pushed off the wall.
As he stepped toward the door, Oblong’s wide eyes followed him.
His eyes were unblinking and dead.
The metal door slammed shut behind him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The robed man stood across the table.
Candlelight flickered between them.
His hands rested loosely together.
He studied Stripe for a moment.
ROBED MAN: You are accused of banditry, public harassment by means of smell, and poisoning a water source.
STRIPE: That seems pretty unfair. I didn't smell that bad. Also I got this outfit from bandits, I am not a bandit. I didn't mean to poison the water either. Its all bad luck.
ROBED MAN: Are you saying you killed armed bandits, took their belongings, wore their armor, and then walked directly to the city gate?
Stripe shifted slightly in the chair. The last room like this he was in was AA.
STRIPE: I technically killed them.
Inside his head, the Crown responded immediately.
CROWN: False. Contribution was minimal. Environmental hazards killed the bandits.
Stripe grimaced.
STRIPE: Right. Technically I only kinda killed one. The rest just kind of happened. I think the term is environmental hazard.
The robed man did not react.
But his posture stiffened.
ROBED MAN: Environmental hazards?
Stripe nodded.
STRIPE: Some dogs, and a coconut did the killing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ROBED MAN: A coconut?
Stripe does not elaborate. He isn't even sure how to.
ROBED MAN: Hard to believe you had nothing better to wear than crude bandit armor and blood-soaked silver.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Stripe shrugged faintly.
STRIPE: I was technically naked before the bandit encounter.
The word hung in the air.
Technically.
The robed man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He stepped forward.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Annoyed.
He picked up a pair of metal pliers from the table.
ROBED MAN: You rely heavily on that word.
Stripe forced a small half-smile.
STRIPE: It’s accurate.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The man seized Stripe’s hand.
He slammed it against the arm of the chair before Stripe could react.
The pliers closed around the edge of Stripe’s fingernail.
Stripe’s muscles tightened instantly.
STRIPE: Woah woah woah chill out.
The pliers pulled.
Pain exploded through Stripe’s hand.
White heat shot up his arm and into his skull.
His breath vanished mid-sentence.
His body jerked violently against the chair.
The nail tore free.
Blood welled instantly from the exposed nail bed.
Stripe sucked air through his teeth.
His vision blurred.
STRIPE: That's fucked up. I have rights, I think.
Every instinct told him to curl inward.
He forced himself still.
ROBED MAN: State your affiliation.
Stripe’s pulse hammered in his ears.
He swallowed.
Breathing hard.
STRIPE: Like a gang? What the fuck?
The pliers clamp down on another nail.
Stripe panics and thinks of the highest authority he can and tosses a name out.
STRIPE: I belong to the house of the goddess Astraeia.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The robed figure froze.
The air changed.
The candle flame wavered.
Then steadied again.
ROBED FIGURE: Affiliation will be confirmed.
The figure snapped their fingers.
Every candle in the room went dark.
Instantly.
Darkness swallowed the chamber.
Guards entered.
Hands grabbed Stripe’s shoulders.
They hauled him upright.
Blood dripped steadily from his ruined fingernail.
They dragged him back into the corridor.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Stripe said nothing.
But the thought stayed with him.
The Crown had not commented.
Not once after his nail was ripped off.
He expected it to notate damage or optimal method of communication.
Instead it was quiet.
They shoved him back toward the cells.
The door opened.
Stripe stumbled inside.
The door slammed shut behind him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Oblong’s wide, dull eyes fixed on him immediately.
The orc noticed the blood on Stripe’s hand.
ORC: What did you say?
Stripe flexed his injured fingers slowly.
The exposed nail bed throbbed with every heartbeat.
STRIPE: Technically the truth.
The thin man burst out laughing.
THIN MAN: :That's hilarious. You're a funny guy.
Stripe leaned back against the wall.
STRIPE: It’s been a long week.
Inside his head, the Crown responded immediately.
CROWN: Incorrect. It has been less than a day.
Stripe stared at the floor.
STRIPE: That feels wrong.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The thin man nodded toward Stripe’s hand.
THIN MAN: Just a nail? Lucky.
The orc crossed his arms.
His gaze shifted briefly toward Oblong.
The creature sat against the far wall.
Watching it never blinked. It seemed almost in a trance.
For a moment the cell settled into uneasy silence.
Stripe’s hand continued to bleed slowly.
The pain pulsed with every heartbeat.
He kept flexing his fingers.
Trying to convince the nerves to calm down.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Oblong moved when it saw his gaze shift.
It was sudden.
Violent.
Stripe barely registered the motion before the creature lunged.
Its massive aquatic body surged across the stone floor.
Wet scales scraped against the ground.
Its wide eyes locked onto Stripe’s face.
Vacant.
Hungry.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Stripe reacted on instinct.
He shoved sideways hard.
His shoulder slammed into another prisoner.
The older man stumbled directly into Oblong’s path.
Oblong’s mouth opened.
Far wider than Stripe expected.
Its jaw flexed unnaturally.
Then it snapped shut.
═══════════════ STATUS ═══════════════
Name: Stripe Level: 5
Class: Unassigned
Title: Toxic Fisherman
HP: 134/134 Stamina: 118/118 Mana: 0/0
ATTRIBUTES
STR 8
SKILLS
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic Retention)
Improvised Weapon Handling (Beginner)
Survival (Novice)
Minor Poison Secretion Passive
ARTIFACT
Crown of Reflection
SYSTEM EFFECTS
Alcohol Intoxication Immunity
Experience Calculation
INVENTORY
Iron Dagger
Leather Chest Piece (Bandit Armor)
Wolf Pelt (Crude Clothing)
Bandit Ring
Strip of Dried Meat
CURRENCY
Silver: 14
6
══════════════════════════════════════
