Hunter's Academy (Veller) (77 page)

“My usual love.” The big man said with a grin.

“Yes sir.” The waitress replied with a slight giggle as she quickly ran off to get him whatever his usual was, the other waitresses moved off a bit slower, disappointed for not having been chosen by the white haired hunter with the steely blue-gray eyes.

The big man slowly turned those eyes onto Kile, and folded his large hands upon the table.

“So, you’re the new hunter.”

“I suppose so.”
She replied.

“So you know who I am?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then you’ve heard of me.” The big man said, a faint boyish smile crossed his lips, but it was his eyes that caught Kile’s attention, they slowly shifted between the steely blue-
gray to a rather vivid gold. “I brought down the Minotaur of Calder falls. I fought him single handedly with my bare hands in the field, down by the by the river. You saw that didn’t you?”

The way he said it, it didn’t sound so much like a question, more like he was stating a fact.

“That’s not exactly how I saw it, but really, whatever floats your boat.” She replied as she turned back to her meal. Maybe that blow to his head did a little more damage than she thought.

“I said
; I was the one that brought down the Minotaur of Calder falls in single combat. I fought him with my bare hands in the open field down by the river. You saw that… didn’t you?”

Again, a statement, not a question.

“Look, to tell you the truth, I couldn’t care less.”

Marcus looked confused and even glanced around the room as if to make sure no one was watching. He then leaned in closer.

“I said, I am the man…”

“Yes, yes, the man who fought the Minotaur of Calder falls in signal combat, something else, something else, whatever. If you want to believe that, that’s fine with me, but really I am trying to enjoy my supper here.”

“This isn’t working on you is it?” He asked.

“What… that story. Uh… no.”

“One moment please.” He said as pulled himself out of the booth and approached one of the waitresses.

She
watched as he leaned in towards the pretty young girl and started to speak. She wasn’t sure what the exchange was between the two of them but she felt that same feeling that something just wasn’t normal about this man and especially those eyes. The waitress giggled and handed him a set of keys which the White haired hunter quickly slipped into his pocket.

“Man I thought I lost it.” He said as he came back to the booth and sat down across from
Kile “Let me try this again.”

He leaned over the table and stared at Kile, his steely blue-gray eyes slowly shifting to the golden yellow.

“I am the incredibly handsome man that saved your life as I defeated the Minotaur in single combat down by the river with my bare hands…”

“You have got to be kidding.” Kile replied.

“Wow, this is… really awkward.” Marcus said, looking even more confused and a bit worried. “Look… Uhm… how about we start this again.”

“No, how about we don’t. Look, I don’t care if you want to take credit for the defeat of the Minotaur, you
’re welcome to it, I don’t want it, and don’t worry. I don’t plan on telling anyone.”

“Wait… please
… calm down.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down.
You come over here uninvited, sit down at my table and… you know. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to do. You’re either trying to pick me up or threaten me.”

“Neither, neither, you don’t understand. Look, let me start all over… please.”

“Fine.” Kile said as she pushed her meal away. “Go for it.”

The big man looked a little uncomfortable now, a bit out of his element as he ran one hand through his long white hair.

“Look, I sorry about what I tried to do just now, it was a bit… low, I’d admit it. What I should have said and what I was going to say when I came over was… thank-you for saving my ass back there. I owe you big… I just never had to… owe anyone.”

She
watched his eyes, but this time they never changed color. She had a feeling it was something that he could turn on and off at will.

“You’re welcome.”

“Since you’re a hunter, I guess I should do this by the book. I am Certified level three Hunter Marcus Taylor, at your service.”

“Probationary level five Hunter Kile Veller, at yours.”
She said as she took his hand, or actually watched her hand disappear into his.

“You didn’t feel any… different… before when I was talking to you… you know, when I told you that…”

“That obviously fake story?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Why? Should I have?”

“Well, actually… yes.” Marcus said as he leaned back in the seat. “I’ve never met anyone that it didn’t work on. I mean aside
from animals, and now I guess I can Minotaur to that list. You know my horse still doesn’t listen to me.”

“Although I don’t know why, Rose is very fond of you
. She wouldn’t have stayed by your side if she wasn’t”

“Well yeah… wait, you know my Rose.”

“We’ve met.” Kile said as she sipped her tea, it was even worse cold, which was when she realized what was going on. “Wait a minute, you were trying you use your edge on me.”

“What? I don’t know…”

“Yes you do, you were trying to use your edge on me, that’s why your eyes changed color. What is it, some kind of mind control?”

“Keep
your voice down.” Marcus hissed as he looked around the room.

“That’s it, isn’t it? It’s some kind of mind control.”

“Well, not exactly, it’s more of a mind nudge, a kind of suggestion.”

“No hunter should
ever use their edge on another hunter.”

“You are fresh out of the academy, aren’t you?” Marcus replied. “Look, things change when you’re out here
. You have to get by the best way you can.”

“Maybe, but
wouldn’t use my edge against you.” Kile replied, not that she was able to, her edge just didn’t work that way.

“Hey, come on, I said I was sorry, and I meant it. Besides, I have kind of a reputation here in town and I didn’t want you to ruin it before I had a chance to speak with you.”

“Well you spoke with me, so don’t worry, I have no intention of taking any credit or soiling your reputations, you can have the Minotaur, the fame, the coin and the credit, it’s all yours.” Kile said as she got up from the booth.

“Sit down Hunter.”
Marcus said, and his eyes flickered to a golden yellow.

“You tried to do it again.”

“Sorry… force of habit… please sit down.”

She
returned to her seat.

“Let it be known that I am doing this because I want to and not because you suggested it.”

“Look, what I wanted to tell you was... yes, the people of Coopervill believe I defeated the Minotaur, and I am sorry about that, and… quite frankly… I need it.”

“Need it?”

“Fame is… rather addicting. When I got out of the academy I was a nobody. Just another hunter making deliveries, and I was quite happy to be that way, but when I defeated the Troll of Blackmore, my entire world changed. I became a somebody. People were coming from all over to see the White haired hunter. I guess… I got drunk on it.”

“So that make
s it alright.”

“No, i
t doesn’t make it right, that's what I’m trying to say. Sure the civilians think I defeated the Minotaur, that means nothing, well, almost nothing. Once the story’s out, you’re not going to change it, it’s part of the legend now, the fame was handed to me, so yes, I took it, but the Minotaur, the credit and the coin, those are yours.”

“
They're not mine, I don’t want them.”

“Oh yeah right, now who’s making things up. You’re a probationary level five, how much coin do you have on you at this moment. I’m wagering ten, twenty at the most.”

“Twelve and change.”

“And you
’re saying that you can’t do with the extra. The Minotaur is a class A open script, that some serious coin. I didn’t go after him for the bounty. I went after him for the fame. I got the fame, for better or for worse, you keep the rest.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It’s too late. I’ve already explained everything to Kane at Guild House. Look I may be a lot of things. I’m a cheat, a swindler. I’ve never paid for a drink or a meal since I became famous, but I would never, never take credit within the guild for something that I didn’t do.”

“You don’t understand, I didn’t defeat the Minotaur, it was a… a fluke, my horse had more to do with the Minotaur’s defeat th
an I did. It was just dumb luck.”

Marcus Laughed.

“Never underestimate dumb luck kid.” He said “How do you think I brought down the Troll of Blackmore.”

“From what I’ve heard you fought him with your bare hands for three days and four nights in a torrential downpour with a broken leg before you pulled off his head.”

“Yeah, that was one of the better stories.” He grinned. “But you want to know the truth of it, it was just dumb luck. You’ve already guessed my edge, why it doesn’t’ work on you I don’t know, but I’m what you call a freak.”

“We preferred the term miscellaneous.”

“So, you’re one too.” Marcus said as his eyes lit up. “Maybe that has something to do with it. Either way, I have the unique ability to, shall we say, persuade someone to do something they may or may not have wanted to do, just by making eye contact. At first I thought it was a curse, I wanted a better edge, a cooler edge, something like walking on air, or throwing balls of fire, maybe even turning invisible. Do you know that Steele can move with rapid bursts of speed? He was able to complete his deliveries before I could even saddle my hose, but the more I practiced my edge, the more advantages I saw in having it. I may not have used it to its fullest potential, mostly to get free drinks or a free meal.”

“Or a waitress’s room key.”

“You saw that?”

“Continue.”

“Yeah, well… I found I could use it better in battle. I could convince my opponent that I was going to move left, when I actually moved right, that I was behind them when I was actually in front of them. I was a natural for brining in bounties, so I figured I could make my fortune in one shot, I would go after the Troll of Blackmore. So I went looking for him in the black moor swamps, looking for this troll, and I found him. Do you know how big a troll is?”

“Mountain, hill, lowland, or forest?”

“Oh… uh… lowland.”

“The lowland troll averages fifteen to twenty feet
high.’

“Where were you when I went looking for the thing? But
you're right, it stood nearly twenty feet high. How can I make eye contact with something when I’m staring at its kneecaps? So I did what any self respecting hunter would do in that situation. I gripped my weapon and took a deep breath…”

“And you ran.”

“Like… the… wind. Unfortunately this thing was a little bit more tenacious than I thought. He chased me from one side of the swamp to the next. So I find this small cave and head straight for it with the Troll’s right behind me. I dive into the cave, he dives in after me, I hear this sickening crack, and then nothing. I stayed in that cave until the next morning before I would even venture out. You know what I found? One dead Troll. He dove into the cave after me and cracked his skull on the low ceiling. It killed him instantly. So there I am, standing there, a level four Hunter with the Troll of Blackmore dead at my feet. Nobody was going to believe this, how could I even explain it? What was I suppose to do?”

Marcus paused for a moment, but not nearly long enough for Kile to say anything.

“I’ll tell you what I did, I cut off its head and dragged my trophy back to get my pay, and I’m telling everyone this story about how this stupid ass Troll kills himself, and no one believes me. It seemed that this fable, this tall tale gets spread ahead of me and every place I go people are congratulating me and celebrating and I’m trying to tell them that I didn’t do anything but they got it in their heads that I killed the troll in single combat with my bare hands. They’re buying me drinks, they’re buying me meals, the women are… well, you get the picture.”

“I’m afraid I do.”

“The people don’t want the truth, they want the fiction. They want to believe that there are heroes out there that can do incredible things that stand between them and the things in the wild. Who are we to take that security away?”

There was some truth to what Marcus was saying, even if it did feel a little wrong, he was right. The civilians didn’t care how it was
done; only that it was done. The less they knew about the dangers, the better they lived their lives in simple bliss.

Marcus got up from the booth and leaned on the end of the table.

“Well kiddo, I still owe you big time, you need me for anything, you just let me know and I’ll be there. Oh yeah, and you should probably go see Kane.”