Somewhere deep in the neutral country of Euhya, to the south of Tsungstat and Fardug, in a recluse town of the name Kolipa, a young man was making his way through the dark alleys. He was a tall and slender man with blonde hair and grey eyes, he was dressed poorly with ragged pants, a worn out grey shirt and some old boots. His hands and arms were completely covered in bandages. The only thing on him that didn't seem to be coming from the gutter was the golden necklace he was wearing, there was a pendant hidden by his shirt on it. He kept walking down the street he engaged in and stopped in the middle of it, feeling some kind of presence.

  " Why are you following me ? "

  Three men came out of the shadows with malicious grins, one of them was huge and the other two seemed like small fry, one of the smaller ones walked forward towards the young man.

  " This street belongs to us, boy. "

  The young man raised an eyebrow and looked around with an air of defiance.

  " I don't see your names on it, you are .. ? "

  " We are the night ravens, and you need to pay a toll to pass through our street. "

  " Do I look like someone with money ? "

  " Do I look like someone that gives a shit ? Strip, boy. "

  " Are you for real ? "

  The bigger man took a step and cracked his knuckles, the " boss " of the group smirked at the young man.

  " My boy here doesn't like to joke, and like me he doesn't have much patience. So either you strip or we strip you. "

  " Ok ok, give me a second I can start with my shoes. "

  " Good. "

  The young man kneeled slowly in front of the thug and slowly began unlacing his boots, the man laughed at this pitiful vision.

  " Ahah look at this rat bowing to me boys ! I feel like a king, at least he knows his place in our presence. "

  The youngster could feel his palms heating up. " Oh not now .. "

  " Laugh while you still have teeth. "

  " What did you s- "

  The young man used his kneeled position to deliver a powerful uppercut to the man, sending him and a few of his teeth flying through the air. Without losing a second, he used to his advantage the tight space of the alley, he placed a foot on the wall to his left and jumped off it to reach and grab the head of the bigger man, in the same motion he kicked the third thug in the face, sending him to crash in a pile of trash. Using his weight he brought down the one he was holding and planted his head into the ground, the man's neck snapped instantly under the weight of the impact. He rolled backwards by pushing on his arms to reposition, the first thug he uppercuted was coming at him from the front and tried striking at him with a right hook which he easily deflected with his elbow, he countered with a jab straight to the nose, in a panic the thug tried to throw a left punch which once again was evaded easily, the young man ducked under the fist and countered by a strong hit to the man's flank quickly followed by a sweep of his leg to make him fall. The young man looked around in search of the third opponent only to notice he had started running away, he looked down on the " boss " and placed his boot on the man's chest.

  " So, tell me again who's street it is. "

  " Not ours man ! We were just playing around. Come on ! "

  " Hm. "

  " From now on, when you try to steal from someone, imagine I'm right behind you ok ? Are we clear ? "

  " Ok ok ok ! "

  " Because if you don't I will break your other arm. "

  " What ? But my arm's not bro- ARGHHHH !! "

  " Now it is. "

  " Aw fuck ! ooohh shit that hurts man ! awww. "

  " Stop whining. Remember my name each time you want to commit a crime : Kyllian. "

  " Ok ok ! I'm so sorry ! "

  Kyllian took his foot off the man's chest and started walking away, as his stomach started growling he stopped and looked back and the thug moaning in pain.

  " Hey ! "

  The thug was startled by Kyllian's voice.

  "Ye-yeah ? "

  " You have coins ? "

  " Wh-What ? "

  " Do you have fucking coins ?!?! "

  " YES ! Yes yes sorry ! Ahah i'm old you know ahah. "

  " I don't give a shit, give me all you got. "

  " Yes yes of course ! "

  With his still functional arm the man took out a small pouch and gave it to the young man, Kyllian snatched it, weighted it and looked inside of it. He then tilted his head to the side and looked at the man with intensity, the thug was getting fidgety and started panicking.

  " Wh-What ?!"

  " I'm gonna break your other arm. "

  " Why ?! No please ! "

  " Are you shitting me ?! You have a group of three and that's all you got ? "

  " We don't have anything else I swear ! "

  Kyllian began walking towards the man.

  " Ok ok ok I have more ok ?! But please that's all I got left. "

  " You should have thought about this before trying to rob me. "

  " Ok but please don't hurt me more. "

  The thug reached deeper in his vest and held out a second pouch which seemed way heavier.

  " Ahhh, that's more like it. " Kyllian gently slapped the man's face a few times. " See ? We don't have to get violent. " He looked at the man from head to toe and smiled. '' Those are some nice clothes you got on you. Boy. "

  Later that night Kyllian entered a tavern which seemed quite empty, only a few customers were sitting at the tables, his new acquired clothes suited him pretty well, a black coat, white shirt, regular dark pants and leather boots. He made his way towards the counter under the gaze of the customers. Leaning against it he waited for the owner or someone else to come, while waiting he looked around the room, less than twenty people could fit inside of this place before it became too crowded, there were many cracks in the wood pillars holding the structure and you could spot mold in the corners of the roof. " Eww, so unsanitary, I would sleep outside if it wasn't winter. "

  " What can I serve you ? "

  Kyllian turned around to discover a small but burly man with many stains on his apron, he was the type of man to pull his hair towards the center of his head to cover his already advanced balding. " What a pig. "

  " I want something to eat, to drink and a room to sleep in. "

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  " We have ale but no more meat and no more beds available. "

  " I don't eat meat anyway, give me some bread, some ale and I will sleep in this corner over there. "

  " You can't sleep in the lobby. "

  " I will pay double and I will leave early. "

  The owner scratched his head, thinking about the deal.

  " Alright, Go sit over there, I'll get you what you want. "

  Kyllian walked away from the counter and sat at the furthest table away from anyone in the room.

  On his back left, two men were having a heated argument.

  " Listen you dimwit ! I'm telling you that according to my maps, it will take us months to go through the land ! The better option is a boat. "

  " But we don't need a boat ! We can just walk and admire the land and talk to locals. "

  " This is not the journey I engaged myself in and I refuse for it to take longer than needed ! "

  " Your maps are probably outdated anyway ! I'm telling you we don't need to go to the other side of the sea anyway, we can just use my inventions and machinery to break through the ice ! "

  " Do you think the king of Fardug hasn't already tried in the past years ?! You really are clueless if you think one of the most prominent military forces known to man would not have gone past it if it was possible without a special way ! I'm telling you, to enter the frozen lands of Triskal we require the help of the dragon queen and to reach her we need a god DARN BOAT ! "

  Suddenly Kyllian stood up and walked up to the men and slammed his hands on their table. The man who spoke first was a slim man in his late twenties with brown hair and a small beard, next to him he had a bag full of diver papers, books and maps. Around his neck he had a strange contraption made out of two pieces of glass held by a wooden shape. The second one was an older man in his mid forties who was on the heavier side with some gray hairs on his head and on his dense beard.

  " Did you just say Triskal ?! "

  " Ye-yes, "

  " There is a way to pierce through the blizzard witch ice ? "

  " Well , hmm yes, according to my books I believe so. "

  The second man, feeling left out, inserted himself into the conversation.

  " What is it to you young man ? "

  " I want to go to Triskal. "

  " And why is that ? "

  " Because I'm going to kill the witch. "

  The two men were taken aback by the sudden revelation, the older one bursted out in laughter.

  " Ahaha ! What a funny guy ! No but seriously, why do you want to go ?. "

  Kyllian fixed his piercing grey eyes on the man.

  " I'm going to kill the witch. "

  The man stopped laughing, realising he was dead serious.

  " By the creator you must be mad. "

  " Maybe but that's not the question, the question is how much are your friend's maps ? "

  The other man quickly took his maps and stuffed them into his bag.

  "M-my maps are not for sale ! And by the looks of you, you don't even have enough money to get proper clothing so forget about touching my maps ! "

  Kyllian turned his eyes towards the second man. Once again he could feel heat in his hands " I need to remain calm, this guy is shaking, I can just beat him and take the maps. "

  " You are talking a lot of crap for someone who is shaking so much. "

  " I-I-I'm not shaking !! "

  " Yes you are. "

  " I'm just cold ! "

  " Just let me have a look at those damn maps, I asked nicely once, I won't do it twice. "

  " Are you threatening me young man ? "

  " What if I am ? "

  " This - this city is the worst !! "

  " Welcome to Kolipa friends ! Refuge for lowlife, souless degenerates ! So, will you kindly give me those ma- "

  Kyllian was interrupted by a drunken man bumping into him, he grunted in annoyance and looked at the drunk.

  " Can't you look where you are fucking going ?! "

  The man turned around, he was a fat middle aged man, his nose was extremely red due to the amount of alcohol he had ingested, he was stumbling all over the place.

  " Zust dronk bit moch "hic". This no place fo kids, go back to ya mams tits ahaha ! "

  Kyllian palms were getting hotter and hotter " I need to calm it. "

  " Just go away from me and watch where you are going, I'm an adult I don't need my mom. "

  " Good fo ya ah ! Maybe she needs another man in her life eh ?! "

  " Don't.Talk.About.My.Mother. "

  " Wha ? She not there anymore boy ? Took too much cock ahahah - AH ! "

  Losing his temper, Kyllian talked the man and laid him on the table next to the two men he was just talking to, he started pummeling the man's face with rage.

  " DONT.TALK.ABOUT.MY.MOTHER !!! "

  Kyllian kept on beating the man's face savagely despite the protest of the customers around him, the bandages on his hands were soaked in the man's blood, he then grabbed his face and started bashing it repeatedly against the wooden table, the man had been unconscious since the first few hits and now his lifeless body was at the mercy of the young man's fury. Many customers had now run away from the tavern, the remaining ones tried stopping the assault only to receive a strong fist to the face before he resumed bashing the man's face. When he was done, the table had turned into a pool of blood, some of the man's teeth were stuck in the table, his skull was completely caved in and you could barely tell he was human to begin with. Out of breath, Kyllian looked around the room, the frightened crowd took a step back when he looked at them, there was no signs of the two men he was just talking to. " Dammit, where did they go ? ". Before going looking for them, he first leaned on the man's body and searched his pockets under the boos of the people in the room.

  " Shut up all of you !! "

  Nothing of value was in the man's pocket, Kyllian stood up and looked at the bloodied corpse.

  " Worthless garbage. "

  He cleared his throat and spat on the corpse. He then exited the tavern under the terrified gaze of anyone present.

  " Guess I'll sleep outside again. "

  Kyllian woke up the next morning, he had wandered around and settled under a bridge, he felt a presence next to him and noticed a small cat sniffing his boots, he gave a slight kick to the feline who hissed at him and ran away. " I hate cats.". He stood up and stretched a little bit, he noticed the bandages on his arms had hardened with the blood but some pieces had come undone due. " These are nothing more than rags at this point, I need new bandages but I don't have any money. By the damn creator I should have taken the coins back from that damn innkeeper, not only did he take all of it but he also did not give me my food or let me sleep there. " Thinking about food made his stomach growl. " Guess I'll head off to the market." He walked to the town market and looked around the different stalls, most of the food he allowed himself to eat was either rotten or too pricey. " I hate this place so much.". While walking around he bumped into a woman, as a result she dropped her basket of apples and fell to the ground. He looked at her and noticed she was wearing fancy clothing and seemed to be in her late forties. " A noble woman."

  " I'm very sorry milady, here let me help you up. "

  He held his hand out and helped her back on her feet, he then picked her apples back and gave her the basket.

  " Thank you young man, here is an apple for your good deed. "

  Kyllian walked forward and took her hands in his.

  " Oh, it would be a blessing to accept it from such a kind and beautiful woman. "

  She blushed at his compliment, he then emphasised it by kissing her hand, she giggled at being lusted over by a man so much younger than her. Kyllian took the apple and started walking away, before he disappeared from her field of vision he gave her his best reverence and the most charming smile he could harness. Once he was far enough from her he grinned in contempt. " What an oblivious idiot.". He reached in his pockets and took out the few rings he took from her hands without her noticing. " Plus she gave me an apple while I had snatched two from her basket already, today is a lucky day. Time to sell those rings."

  He went to his regular pawnshop and entered it, the inside of the small business was a literal garbage dump, items everywhere going from house furniture, to fancy paintings, jewelry and weapons. You could find anything at Hytham's Bazaar. Kyllian walked for a few minutes inside the store and was tapping his foot with impatience.

  " Hytham ? You there ? "

  Not a sound could be heard in the shop.

  " Hytham ?! For fuck sake where is he ? "

  All of a sudden, Kyllian heard an explosion and the building shook because of it. " What the .. " . He ran towards the back of the store where most of the items were kept, Hytahm's bazar was in reality bigger than it seemed, the outside looked like a very small shop but an entire warehouse of goods was attached to it. Kyllian entered the warehouse and saw smoke coming out of the back, he walked towards it with caution and heard coughing. A few seconds later, Hytham emerged from the smoke. He was a man in his thirties with a grey beard, he had been bald for as long as Kyllian knew him, he was the kind of man to dress modestly and speak in simple terms so that people would voluntarily underestimate him and try to take advantage of his simple peasant mind. His success was coming from the fact that he was the best at his craft which was scamming people out of their money while making them think they are making money. He was a literal wolf in sheep's clothing. Kyllian approached Hytham with a smile on his face.

  " I thought you quit smoking. "

  " Ah! Funny lil shit. "

  " What caused this? Do you need help? "

  " No just some dumb fuck trying to gain money by selling me some of his "inventions".

  " Oh, one of those. "

  " Yeah, one of those, but he had coins so I had to listen to his endless talking and worst of all this shit blew in our faces ! "

  " I have items for you."

  " Yeah I figured you would not come around to enjoy my company."

  " No one comes to see you just to enjoy your company Hytham, you know that already."

  " I would be hurt if I was not making a living out of it, you are a heartless human Kyli. "

  " Don't call me that."

  " Or what ? You gonna kill me? Me? Your only way of making money in these trying times? "

  Kyllian, took out the rings and showed them to the shop owner.

  " No, but I can always sell those somewhere else."

  " AH ! Like you could, then you would just cry to your momma. "

  " Hytham ... "

  " Oh the big baby is gonna cry cuz I talked about his mooooooooom. "

  " I'm not joking with you .. "

  " You know, you could sell me that necklace you are wearing, she gave it to you but that didn't stop you from selling me some of her clothes either.. "

  " You motherfucker ! "

  " I didn't touch yours, not like half the rain district. "

  Fuelled with anger, Kyllian threw a punch at Hytham who immediately countered it and threw the young man over his shoulder, he then pinned him on the ground with his right arm in a lock.

  " You are soooo easy to anger Kyli, just two words about your mom and you go crazy, it's always so funny to see."

  " Let me go !!! "

  " If I let you go right now, you are going to punch me. "

  " LET.ME.GOOOOO !!!! "

  Kyllian hands were now feeling extremely hot, his bandages started emitting just a little bit of smoke, realising it, Hytham stopped angering him and decided to let go. When Kyllian stood back up, he was still wanting to inflict pain on the shop owner. Hytham raised his hands.

  " I yield ! I'm not fighting you when you are like this, you take it wayyyy too seriously. Go relax and breathe for a minute, I'm going to see the other customer."

  Kyllian took a deep breath and massaged his hands. He decided to go sit on the ground with his back against the cold stonewall of the warehouse. Breathe in, breathe out. I need to get it under control." A familiar voice took him out of his meditation.

  " So what do you think of my invention ? "

  " It's shit."

  " What ?! "

  " It blew in our faces ! "

  " Yeah but imagine the potential once it works ! "

  " Show it to me when it works then I may buy it, until then it's useless junk ! "

  " But you sell useless junk don't you ?! "

  " Yeah but my customers don't know that and it's easier when they think it has value, this is just a box of - of whatever the hell this is supposed to be that doesn't even do what's intended to do ! So no deal. "

  The voices were getting close and closer until Kyllian saw Hytham coming out of the room where the explosion happened. " Where did I hear that other voice before ?". Coming out of the room right after his friend, was one of the two men he had talked to the night before. The man stood there and stared at Kyllian with an expression of terror, still sitting on the ground, Kyllian had the biggest malicious grin.

  " Well, it is a lucky day. "