"U-Uhm... thank you." Muu murmured silently towards Matteo as he offered himself up to buy the Guild Primer. Sadly, Muu wasn't all too sure how much 10 silver was truly worth but would certainly repay him! "Can I..." Urgh, she was the worst, wasn't she? First he paid for it and now. Looking down in defeat, Matteo was thankfully enough of a gentleman to go out of his way and share the primer for a moment.
There was a lot of information there but ultimately, what was Muu even supposed to do? So far, the girl just tagged along. But why? It was, once again, Matteo who continued the exposition. More than her nameless new best friend had done anyway. The brunette was supposed to be a kind-of-soldier-person. Come again? It came at a shock but eventually Muu settled down. Despite her sheepish behaviour she was very well aware of her healthy body.
Thus, it came down to a bunch of options, mainly about big weapon fanatics or something like a 'Deus Vult' group, that Muu decided to check all out...
...
After various misadventures in perusing the variety of smaller, more obscure guilds and factions within the guild census that Matteo had bought, as well as her encounters with many, many half-naked, dark-skinned, sweaty macho men, Muu finally found herself on the southern side of Andeave, where the buildings became taller and more menacing. Rickety spires of wood speared the blue sky above, while the people who strode through the cobblestone streets wore thick hoods and muttered foreign tongues that sent shivers down her back. Graffiti, splashed in dark red ‘paint’, colored the damp, sodden walls of narrow alleyways, while the blood-scent and incense-smoke lingered beneath the baser stench of the sea. It was a part of town seeped with supernatural danger, and Muu could only imagine how frightening it’d be when the sun truly fell, and all those candles were lit up.
After some wandering and nervous questions, however, the young girl found herself before a three-story building in a dense favela, many other narrow buildings with steep roofs crammed in the same place. Down below, the derelict prophets and worshippers of foul non-gods sat, rattling their bone-dice and smoking their mind-blinders, but up above, Muu could see the scarlet-and-gold banner of the Bladedancer’s Academy, just as ostentatious as the name itself suggested. Men and women dressed in leather and belts bounded from rooftop to rooftop, some of them smoother than others. There were more who traipsed on tightropes, their blades sparking as they dueled each other, and still more who were content with balancing on the very edge of a roof on a single toe. Though dressed in incredibly dark attire, so dark that it shone blackly in the sun, the scarlet scarves they all wore was the splash of color that seemed to serve as their uniform.
At a distance, they were incredibly cool.
But down below, the people looked up at those flamboyant peacocks with nothing but disdain and curses. Still, if this had Muu’s interest, she simply had to enter the door and climb up the stairs...or maybe shout from down below to grab the attention of one of the rooftoppers?
Unapproachable. They seemed unapproachable. Despite the glaring annoyances on the ground, without a care in the world, the sword dancers went on their business with the Scarlet Color of Justice.
For a good amount of time, Muu simply stood there. Just like the others, gazing up and watching their play. None of this was what she wanted, but ultimately, she had to do with the cards she had been dealt with.
”Alright Muu.” The brunette whispered in a barely convincing voice to herself. ”You can do this! Go Muu Go!” With a tiny spark of determination in her eyes, Muu convinced herself that all would be well. Even with the cursing and creepy cultists that would surely target her once— ”GO MUU GO!” The girl yelled rather loudly before entering the headquarters of the ‘edgy acrobat sword people group’ and going up the stairs to find…?
-
More stairs. A lot more stairs. Though it wasn’t anything worse than the long line of stairs that lead up to the Church of the First Light, the number of stairsteps spiraling upwards still took its toll on Muu. Along the way, she encountered all sorts of sketchy folk, some who looked as if they wanted to drag her into a dark room and skin her alive and some who looked as if they wanted to drag her into a dark room and sacrifice her to a tentacle god, but Muu was too fast and too shy to be dragged into their heinous apartments. No, despite the obstacles along the way, she rose and rose and rose until she reached a ladder that led to the rooftops. More climbing ensued and finally, the young girl broke out into the open sky and the clay-and-wood rooftops.
But there was no one there. Indeed, it appeared that as she climbed, the rest of the ‘Bladedancers’ had bounded away from the central roof. Most of them were now training farther off, a formidable death drop between the roofs that they trained on and the roof that she stood upon.
Still, if she were to squeeze her eyes and use all her might, even that distance would be naught but a trifling hop to clear. The only question was...would she do it?
For most people, this was a situation to be scared. Jumping from one roof to the next and the result that would happen if one were to fall. Yet, Muu felt at ease. Up here, away from all these scary people, the brunette could sigh with relief. This was way less uncomfortable than the crowded streets. Nonetheless, after another small break and mentally convincing herself to press on the girl dared to jump. Closer, and closer to the training edgelords.
The jump was indeed easy, her feet slapping cleanly against the roof. Though it was slanted, her shoes still gripped easily enough against the side, and Muu came to a safe, if not skilled, stop. As she did, one of the Bladedancers, a lithe man with his entire head wrapped in the scarlet scarf turned around, amusement faintly lighting in his eyes.
“Morning.”
Before Muu was even able to regain her composure, one of these people already greeted her! "G-Good Morning!" The girl stammered forth before adding, with a bow. "I am Muu and I'd like to apply to the Bladedancers Academy... please!?"[/b] Despite her voice turning nearly into a whisper towards the end her voice was clear this time.
“30 silver.”
Muu nodded before pulling out her coinsack and counting. Now, for the first time, she realized she didn't have enough, letting her head hang. "Urgh..."
Realizing that he was, apparently, still waiting for her to pay Muu continued in a silent voice. "I... all I have are 10 Silver."
“That’s not 30,” he stated.
Duh. He didn't make it any easier for her. A man of few words? "I-I know... but...p-please?"
“Why?”
Why? Did he just ask 'why'? Oh god. Muu had to talk. Use a lot of words, didn't she? With each passing second the girl felt more and more uncomfortable. Why couldn't that girl be with her. "B-Because it's..." She looked even more bullied now. "...the only place I have left?" The whole magic thing was weird and the muscle people weren't much better. "And the uniforms(?) look kinda cool..." Muu also mumbled.
“Hm...and what will you do to make up for the 20 silver left?”
Progress! At least he didn't kick her out asap. Go Muu Go! With her face slightly lighting up, Muu could once again look forward. "I, uh... work extra hard to make it up...?"
“Working hard benefits the worker.”
"B-But also the employer!?" Muu actually dared in a rather firm voice. Although immediately looked panicked, looking down once again as she dropped her shoulders. "Although it's very disrespectful to not give it your best in the first place..." She whispered to herself.
“But we’re not employing you.” He replied, with a slight shrug.
"..." This was getting nowhere, was it? Muu stood silent for a minute. He did, too. Two minutes. Nothing changed. Three minutes. Super awkward. Just how could he!? "W-What more do you want from me!?" She asked with a weird mixture of annoyance and shyness as her body stood firm once more. "I pay the 20 silver later, ...isn't that enough!?" The last part of her sentence drifted off into a quieter voice again.
He blinked, amusement crystal clear in his blue eyes now. “Yes. That’s enough. Every week that passes, I will collect at least one silver coin from you. Every month that passes, your debt will increase by one-tenth of whatever remains unpaid. Do you agree with that?”
"Uh..." Wow, did he just? Urgh. "F-Fine..." Muu nodded. If only she was more headstrong to defend herself against such treatment!
“Then bleed for it.” With that, a small penknife twirled in his right hand, and he tossed it over towards Muu, unconcerned if it ended up stabbing her.
The Bully used confusion! It was very effective.
Despite catching the knife with ease, Muu looked at him rather confused. Bleed for it?
He snorted. “Cut your palm.”
Was that really necessary!? But who was little Muu to object? Without any complain, the girl started to cut herself. No wonder some people thought of them as Edgelords.
The man nodded, before taking the knife and cutting open his own palm. Once the blood began to flow freely, he reached out, offering, no, demanding a handshake.
Ewh! Certain alarm bells went off in Muu's hand, albeit just for a moment. After all, she was Muu and not a headstrong genki girl that would tell him a thing or two about aids. In fact, Muu felt a weird sense of respect towards this despicable asshole, and thus shook his hand.
It was a shake, but it was also a strong grip, as he held her open wound against his own, feeling the blood flow between the two. Closing his eyes, the man muttered a few words in a foreign tongue, before releasing. As Muu looked at her own palm, she could see a crimson symbol etching itself into her skin now, three thorny branches striking out from the center of her self-inflicted wound.
The man nodded. “For the duration of this week, refer to me as Master. Right now, you are nothing but crude ore, but by the end of this, you shall become a blade capable of splitting the clouds.”
Then, that amusement sparked in his eyes once more. “Only if you work extra hard though.”
A certain feeling of similarity.
A slight hunch of regret.
A fleeting memory of obedience.
Checking out her tatoo for just a moment, Muu gave 'Master' a short, curteous, bow. "Yes, Master!" Splitting the clouds? Wasn't that kind of 'a lot' for just a week?
Izurich
Xaltwind