Chapter 23 Jason
-Jason-
Clang!
A heavy rock killed his son.
Clang!
His daughter starved.
Clang!
His wife died.
Clang!
A blacksmith? No. A horrible husband and an even worse father, that was what he was. Jason had failed. He had failed his family after promising them a better life. His wife had trusted him fully. His kids were excited to move.
Now they were ashes.
Their hopes and dreams were nothing but part of his memories now.
Clang!
That was the only reason why Jason decided to stay alive. If he died, his family would die with him. Gone. That's why he kept hammering the metal. He repeated the same motion over and over again until his arms felt like they were going to fall apart.
Clang!
There was nothing else he could do. If he did nothing, the pain would devour Jason. Yet, he couldn't do something else no matter how hard he tried. He would wake up and hammer from dawn to dusk and sometimes even forgo sleep. It was like a trance that he couldn't break out of.
Clang!
Crack.
His hammer stopped mid-swing. Jason looked down on the deformed iron beneath him and furrowed his brows. His metal never cracked. It yielded and morphed under his will, but it never cracked.
That was the sign of an amateur. And Jason was not one.
Have I lost myself that much?
Boom.
An explosion rang out from behind. Jason watched as splinters exploded inside his living room, making the mess he had going on even messier.
He turned around, fury burning inside his veins.
He hadn't felt anger in a long, long time.
Inside his door frame stood a young man that couldn't be older than 20.
Probably even younger. The young man had flowing golden-brown hair, split as a middle part.
He was tall and slim but with a good amount of muscle on his frame.
His face was handsome but his expression was that of confusion.
Confusion?! Confusion???
Jason stopped hunching over the metal he had subconsciously protected and stood up to his full height. His head almost touching the high ceilings of his home. He clenched his jaw tight, and his knuckles turned white.
Confusion.
The man who broke his fucking door was looking around with confusion. As if he hadn't expected for a door to brEAK WHEN YOU INTENDED TO brEAK IT.
"You-" Jason started but was interrupted.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Jason stopped dead in his tracks. Something made him freeze. But as fast as that presence came, it was gone again. His hulking figure heaved up and down. What? What was he doing?
"I asked what the fuck you are doing? Hammering the same old metal as if it's going to change a thing. Are you kidding me? Yes, your son died. Yes, your daughter starved. Yes, your wife is gone too. But what the hell are you doing? Do you think they would appreciate you being like this?"
"You have no idea what you are talking about," Jason practically growled, and stomped his way through the living room. He wanted to do nothing more than punch that brat in front of him in the face.
"I don't," the brat said. "I truly have no idea what you are going through, but I just know this is not what your dead family would want for you.
I just know it. All I heard about you were great stories.
Everybody feels pity for you. I don't. I can't feel pity for you.
It's not that I don't have any sympathy for your situation; it's just...
pity does nobody any good. Pity is what you give a dying dog, your suffering grandpa who you know will die too.
Pity is not something for the living. So I can't show you pity because I know you are not destined to die and rot like a nobody. "
Jason arrived in front of him, cocked his arm back, and punched forward.
Then the world blurred around him, and he felt his legs leave the ground.
He was in the air? No. He was flying through the air.
The moment Jason came to that conclusion, his body arrived at the other side of the room, and he came to a hard, painful stop.
His chest was numb. His back hurt from slamming into... everything.
Dazed, Jason could only watch on as the brat arrived in front of him.
Surprisingly, there wasn't the smug look he was expecting.
Nor was there anything condescending in the man's gaze.
He simply...looked at him. Without judgment or any other emotion.
It was the same gaze somebody would give you when you passed them by. There was nothing.
"Get back on your feet. People need you here," the brat said, and out of thin air appeared a black book inside his hands. He threw the book at Jason. The Blacksmith was still too shocked to do anything, so the book simply landed on his torso.
"You are more than a man meant for eternal suffering.
I honestly don't know how you will get out of the hole life has put you in.
But I know it's entirely possible. So, if you don't want to live for yourself, live for others for some time. I am not going to sit here and act like I understand what you are going through. I don't. But I am also not going to let you rot into nothingness. I need you. And the town needs you. We have a Beast Wave to defend against and it won’t be possible without you!”
With that, the young man just turned around and left, but not before stopping inside the doorframe with the now missing door.
"Ah, and sorry about the door. Make sure to send me an invoice to my office."
Who the fuck is that little runt?
***
-Ivor-
Fuck.
I broke his door into a thousand pieces.
I didn't mean to do that.
I just wanted to barge in, not pulverize the door. I hope he doesn't catch a cold tonight.
I also acted like a total asshole.
Man. Fuck.
I don't know why I shattered the man's door into millions of pieces before punching him in the face and throwing the Blacksmithing blueprint on him, but it did feel right. So, I just did it.
I was speeding through the town at a quick pace. I didn't really want people to catch what I did. Anyway, I didn't feel bad about it anymore a few minutes after the event had happened. I just knew it was the right thing to do for the man.
Quickly, I arrived back at the mansion. The line of people getting their food from us had now shrunk by a lot.
It was incredible how fast that change happened.
I could have sworn just yesterday, the people were flooding us and begging for food.
Now, they could sustain themselves and regain a part of human dignity.
I had lived on the streets for a short, short while. And let me tell you, it's not fun at all. Being dependent on the mercy of the people around you is not what a human should have to deal with.
I nodded at the people in line; they greeted me back. A few seconds later, I arrived back inside the mansion where Samuel was standing and waiting.
"Samuel," I greeted. I knew he was here for me. "How is it going?"
"It's going well, my Lord." Samuel bowed his head.
"We have been gathering materials for the walls and everything else you have wanted.
The output has steadily increased as more and more people not only join us but, most importantly, look better.
I know they want to work. I think it may be time to announce what we have planned. "
I nodded; I also thought that it was time.
"Gather the people of the Town. Make it official and tell them I have something to say," I said.
Samuel simply nodded and sped off. I went inside the mansion, greeted my cleaners who were playing the board game. I joined and played with them for a couple of hours. I decided to wind down a little before getting more work done. There wasn't much else to do before I had to talk to Julie.
After I was done defeating Magret and getting destroyed by the other two, I knocked on Julie's office, and after not getting a reply, I entered.
I creaked the door open and froze right in my tracks.
"Well, who do we have here?"
It wasn't Julie who spoke. No, it was a man next to her, his face obscured by a cloth as he pressed a metal dagger against Julie's throat. The moment our gazes met, the dagger lightly pierced Julie's skin, causing her to whimper in pain. My blood boiled.
"What do you want?" I said, barely able to contain my anger.
He had to want something, or else Julie would have been dead already. The man with the dagger was tall and lanky. I didn't remember anybody tall and lanky. I guessed he was one of Tom's men.
This was not good. I doubted the man would attack on his own without his thugs. I had to assume that we were being attacked by Tom's gang all over the place.
"I said: WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I activated Commanding Presence. Mana flared inside my body and was simply consumed. It didn't go anywhere inside my body; rather, it was directly funneled towards my Skill.
A pressure descended upon the man that demanded answers. I could tell that he wasn't very strong. He was even weaker than the Demons I had fought. However, I had placed all my Stat Points into Mana. The Skill hit him like a brick. The man's eyes widened slightly, and he took a single step back.
He was inclined to answer me. I could tell by the movement beneath the cloth.
I activated the Skill for a second time.
"TELL ME!"
Mana was consumed, drained from my body at a fast pace, but I knew it was worth it. The man moved his dagger away from Julie's throat, and instead, his attention turned fully to me.
"We—"
He snapped out of it quick. But the brief moment was all that I needed.
All of my Mana gathered inside my legs, and I disappeared from the spot.
The man's dagger began to move towards Julie, but I was quicker.
The distance inside the office was closed in an instant, and I arrived in front of the man.
His eyes widened again. This time in panic. I wanted to take him hostage. But that possibility was not there. He was too close to Julie. I activated Martial Forms and, in turn, Snake Strike. My arm blurred from where it was and descended upon the man's chest.
The dagger was inches away from piercing Julie once and for all. I was quicker. My fist smashed into his torso. His chest caved under the sheer force of my punch, and he was flung across the room. He smashed against the wall with a heavy thud and limply fell to the ground.
He was dead. I could tell. There was no breathing happening.
I looked down at the sobbing Julie. She tried to stand up, but her legs grew weak. She fell to the floor and tried again. This time I helped her up. I looked at her, gave her a moment to collect herself, then got ready to ask her what happened.
She spoke first.
"He said they will kill Gerald," Julie managed to say between sobs. "Please, my Lord. You have to save him. I beg you. It's Tom. It's Tom and his band of thugs who are targeting us. I can't believe it. The man was just a boy and now...I can't believe it."
My suspicions were confirmed.
Indeed, Tom was attacking us.
I should have seen that coming.
My suspicions were confirmed a second time as a loud explosion rang from the outside.
"Gerald!"
I was off.