Stepping onto the next block, they passed a group of children standing on one side of the street while tossing rocks into a bucket on the other side. This game exists everywhere, huh? The familiar game was a pastime for Soldiers. If anyone left their Army Combat Helmet or patrol cap upside down, other Soldiers would throw rocks, pine cones, and other miscellaneous shit into them until it was full to the brim. They were about five minutes away from the Stumbling Ogre when his stomach growled, and the warning of his satiety bars indicated low status.

  “Say, let’s go to a cart and grab a snack, I’m starved.”

  “Yeah, I know just the place,” Reina said, taking a sharp right down an alley.

  The distinct noise of fists pounding against flesh hung in the air, followed by a muffled scream. What the fuck? Rook’s Command Presence was activated and brought his analytical side out. There has to be someone being mugged or a fight on one of the branching alleys. Rook drew his mace from the inventory and rushed up to the first branching alley on his left.

  “Rook, wait!” Reina cried out.

  “Shit, someone’s coming,” A voice said, before two men ran out into the alley, nearly colliding with Rook.

  Reina rushed next to Rook a moment later with her rapier drawn at the corner of the alley. Pie the corner and get ready to swing. Rook mentally prepared himself, then gave a nod to Reina before stepping out. He took the corner in slow increments, ensuring not to expose themselves until they had a clear line of sight. Just as he learned in his training, take it slow, weapon ready. The branching passage was a pre-burnt dump where nearby residents collected trash. In the pile was a torokin with a cloth in her mouth, gagging her. She had a red diamond painted across her face from one white curved horn to the other, and her head lulled to the side, resting on a pile of molding fruit.

  “Stonists,” Reina growled. “Bastards are getting bold.”

  Rook followed her gaze to the red marking. “Help me,” Rook said, flatly, before putting his weapon away.

  They lifted her up and dragged her out of the trash. Holy shit, she’s heavy. He found a soiled blanket and carefully folded it into a pillow. With care, he slid it under her head. Perfect. His heart dropped; it was the same Torokin that they’d helped before.

  “What the fuck, man?” He grit his teeth. “Reina, get the guards here.”

  She ran out of the alley and into the crowd of people. The torokin was breathing shallow, and fresh red marks were on her face and neck. A dirty boot print was on her chest, and for a moment, Rook felt his rage building to a dangerous limit. He pulled a health potion from his inventory and placed the bottle to her lips.

  “Take just a little bit at a time,” he whispered softly. “How the fuck can someone do this?” He asked, teeth pressed. He produced one of the mana wipes from his inventory and dabbed at her face before folding it into thirds and placing it across her forehead. “I hope this cools you down a little.”

  A few moments later, Reina was jogging in, joined by two city guards. They looked in disgust and horror of the scene before them.

  “What happened here!?” The guard asked, drawing his blade and looking around.

  “Two men were beating her, and they left this marking on her face,” Rook explained to them.

  “Stonist assholes,” one guard kneeled down and wiped the torokin’s face with a rag from within her armor. “I wish I could say this is an isolated event, but the stonists have been at this racial purge for a long time. They are human purists against gnomes, torokin, uldannish…”

  “That’s enough,” the other guard said with a frown. “This doesn’t concern the good Samaritans.” He looked over at them. “We’ll take it from here. This is an active scene, and we need time to investigate. Please leave the premises.”

  They walked in silence for the next several minutes until they reached the front of the Stumbling Ogre. His mind raced with questions, all the five W’s for what happened jumped and when he couldn’t take it, he stopped in front of the stairs leading to the long house and sat.

  “Reina, what’s a stonist, and why are they not all in prison?”

  “They are a faction of Bloodstone supporters, believing that the Elves are a direct reflection of the God Maker. They have powerful people and groups within the faction itself, so arresting them all wouldn’t work. On top of that, many people are just misguided and non-violent, unlike those men we saw before.”

  “Yeah, okay, I get it.” They entered the tavern, waving to Brianna.

  His mind continued racing as they sat at the corner of the room and waited. Before long, Brianna was standing next to the table, arms crossed and tapping her foot.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “You both look like shit. Pick your food from the menu and I’ll have it brought to your room.”

  “Listen, Brianna, can we speak later?” Rook asked, earning a surprised look from the enhancer.

  “Yes. Off you go,” Brianna said, shooing them away.

  Rook turned his hands over, inspecting the dirt, sweat, and grime. Reina looked no better. “Fair enough.” He said, too tired to argue. Too hungry to care about hanging out around food without being able to eat it.

  After a quick scrub down, Rook sat on his bed contemplating the events of the day when a sound knock came at the door. The smell of fresh bread and cooked meat wafted into the room and brought him to his feet. Brianna was joined by a bartender who had the serving tray. The dapper gnome styled a blue comb over and a mustache goatee combo. Rook thanked him for the food and gave him a silver coin. The man looked at the coin and smiled like he had just gotten an N64 under the Christmas Tree. Brianna smiled at Rook and then clapped the man on the shoulder, letting him return to his duties.

  “May I come in?” Brianna asked, dusting off her apron.

  “Please,” Rook ushered her in and gestured to the edge of the bed. He set the tray on the end table and leaned against the wall so that the pair could talk in an even triangle. “I want to talk about the homeless situation here in Ollar City.”

  Brianna’s face darkened. “Alright,” she said, suspiciously.

  “How many Inns are there in Ollar?”

  She gave them both a sad smile. “Look, it’s nice, honorable even, what you are thinking about doing. However, this situation would call for hundreds of silver, or a few gold even.”

  “Can you give me a rough number for how much money it would take to put up two hundred people for as long as it takes for the builder’s guild to create permanent shelters for the homeless and downtrodden?”

  There was a long silence in the air; the women just blinked at Rook as if he had asked to buy the moon.

  “Give me a little while to figure it out.” Brianna stood, dusting her apron off, and walked out without another word.

  “That went well.” Rook gazed over at Reina, busy scribbling in her notebook.

  Reina frowned at him. “Simple math here, but averaging all the Ollar City inn’s prices would be six thousand four hundred copper or about six silver. That’s for one day.” She shook her head. “You gave more than that to one family.”

  Rook sighed. “Well, I have a few gold, so I think we can handle the cost, it’s just getting permission to build it.” He looked over at Reina. “What?”

  “How in the Maker’s hell do you have so much money?”

  “Loot.”

  “That explains nothing. I’ve been getting copper and not gold,” she said with a heavy sigh, and reached over towards the plate of food.

  A few moments passed in silence as they ate.

  “Hey, I have a question,” Rook asked.

  Reina swallowed and then took a drink. Seemingly in pure bliss at the meal. “What?”

  “Your matches with the guy at the training grounds. How did they go, the play-by-play?”

  She frowned, putting her plate down on the side table. “He was strong. Too strong for me, and did his best to go easy.” She looked at her hand and cracked a knuckle. “I outlasted him, though, by using my stamina buffs.”

  That explains it. The guy looked like a linebacker, Rook thought, tearing a piece of the bread off and savoring the taste. Not as good as the bread we used to make. His grandfather’s homemade sourdough flashed in his mind and made his guts twist.

  “Something happened,” she said, before he took another bite.

  Rook jerked his head up. “Eh?”

  “I decreased his stamina, I think. We were grappling and by the Maker’s system…” She stared at him. “I’ve got something to show you.”

  Reina Jax wants to share a skill.

  The notification surprised him at first, but he pulled up the skill and scrolled.

  Sap (touch distance)- User can decrease stamina at the cost of mana. Must be in a party.

  “Try it on me.”

  Rook stood up, holding his hand out. Reina stood across from him and grabbed it. A look of concentration twisted on her face, and Rook felt it. First in his legs, feeling like he ran a marathon. His knees buckled, unwilling to carry his weight even a second longer, and he collapsed to the ground. His mouth fell slack, and his head lulled to the side.

  Fuck.

  She shuddered, wiping a hand to her brow. Silently cursing, she took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled. “How incredible is that?” She asked, smiling so hard, her face might split.

  It was contagious, and in his tired state, he cracked a lopsided grin. “Happy for you, now fix me, please,” he said with a slur.

  Reina laughed and placed a hand on his head. Slowly, warmth radiated in his body, and the feeling of lethargy dissipated. Once the stamina bar was full, he sat up and went to his food.

  “I have an offensive spell,” she said, kicking her feet. “I can be useful in a fight.”

  Rook’s heart skipped a beat. He knew the feeling of uselessness well; there wasn’t a day in his life since seeing his parents die that he hadn’t felt useless. The heavy burden weighed on the back of his mind, constricting his chest, and caused Reina to frown at him.

  “You okay?”

  He sighed, composing himself. “You matter, Reina, don’t think for one second you’re not useful. I’d be dead, a pile of boar shit, without you.” His hands ached, and he realized that he was clenching his fists.

  Within the tense moment, Reina put two and two together. How could he explain that he fought those feelings for years? It hurt him to hear it from someone he was growing to care about.

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he grabbed his plate and ate. He glanced up at Reina, smiling and eating more of her food. She met his gaze, giving him a sheepish smile. What do you want to say?

  “Can you help me train?”

  Rook shook his head and smiled back. “Just let me finish my food first.”

  Over what must have been the next hour, Reina sapped his stamina; several times, he collapsed to the ground with a thud before she could catch him or restore it. Rook jerked his head towards the firm knocking at the door.

  “What’s going on in there?”

  He looked at her and chuckled. “I’ll get it.”

  One of the bartenders, a pale-skinned woman with long braided auburn hair, stood with a tray holding a jug and two cups. She craned her head around Rook to get a look inside. With a sigh of relief, she handed him the tray. “We occasionally get some unruly guests making a mess of the room.” She looked around once again. “It doesn’t seem like this is the case. However, please do try to be quieter. Brianna thought you were, well, you know.” She rubbed the side of her flushed face. “I just had to check is all.”

  “Nope, all good here.” Rook chuckled. Glancing over his shoulder at Reina, looking out the window.

  “Well, you two have a good night.” She whirled around, pursing her lips. “Brianna told me to tell you, two months and two gold should cover it.” With a bow, she left.

  Rook closed the door and placed the tray on the side table between the beds. She was a friendly enough bartender. Rook could imagine the conversation between the two.