The ashes before Strife

Episode 10 : growth of dragons ; 6

Seven months after the talk with Shelia in the diner I had pondered the idea of going to school but ended up deciding to go once I turn twelve.

I still have months until I even turn 10 anyway so I'll have plenty of time to get the necessary documents from the black market forger.

As I walked inside the bustling adventurer's guild I could hear the shouting of two people arguing at the center of the hall. "My mother's a what now? Come here you little brat, I'll feed you your own shit, just so you realize how much crap your talking!"

"Ooh, a fight! Cayde let's go over and take a look!" I smiled at the little bat sitting in my front pocket, in the last 5 months Thorn has greatly matured no longer sounding like a little boy but an almost regular adult.

"You go ahead. I need to get paid so that I can afford to feed you." The tiny winged dragon then jumped out of my pocket and flew away up towards the ceiling as the fight at the center of the hall continued to draw attention.

"Hey, Shelia." The blonde-haired worker was writing documents as I approached "care to tell me what the fights are about?"

"Wish I could, but I've been too busy doing work so I've not really been paying attention." She then pulled out 3 silver coins from a drawer "that's the reward for the blood spider nest extermination, you'll have to sell your items another time since we're busy today."

I took the coins absorbing them into my coin card saying thanks, I then squeezed through the crowd to see what was happening "thorn. care to tell me what you've learned?"

I looked up to see Thorn hanging from a wooden pillar observing the situation below him "far as I can tell they're arguing about whose stronger. Awfully boring, they both say they're going to punch the other but don't."

I then finally got to the front of the circular crowd to see two 12-year-old boys wearing metal and red leather gear with golden crests holding wheat visible on their back arguing with another boy in similar armor but green leather with a pig on his cape looking much older.

"Rivals of some kind most likely." I looked around the crowd to see people making bets as two of the three boys began covering their fists in mana not drawing their swords "were just here to do an assignment from our teacher pig! We don't want anything to do with you!"

"Pig?! That's an awful lot coming from someone who can give me a migraine just by looking at them!"

I spotted Ulter who looked to be enjoying the show in front of him on the other side, there's no rule disallowing fights in the guild so long as there's no blood drawn so it's unsurprising that he's just observing, though those two boys' crests are similar to the one the green cloak he wore a while back.

He noticed me as well, he tried to mime some words but I couldn't tell what he was trying to say so Thorn went down to translate for me "he says, the second one tries to punch the other freeze all of them. Or else things will get freaky quickly."

"I'm sure you'd have fun crushing them instead Thorn."

"True, normally I would but their strength is nonexistent compared to me and it would be no fun if they can't at least struggle a little... the tastiest preys are the ones that have the fight in them after all." I could see thorn drooling atop Ulter's shoulder, he sees humans as food now doesn't he? I prepared to disarm them coalescing ice mana in my hand getting ready to unleash a winter's blizzard.

The three boys continued to insult each other using various profanities not daring to launch an attack on the other side, one wants to cause some sort of scenario but the two in red leather are rather passive.