Chapter 3 – Blessed Cursed Legion

Illias sat on the stone block in front of where him and Old Goat lived for now. He had been there for what felt like hours staring at nothing and no one. It was cold and the ground had a tiny film of white snow, but Illias was staring into the distance.

A few people stopped to check in on him and pat his head.

Every single one of them mentioned Max.

Every single one of them told Illias how evil the black haired demon was.

Every single–

Max didn’t mean what he said, right? He always gave me food…

Illias picked his head up. Old Goat was walking back toward him with a few old men with him. They were in hushed whispers and constantly giving looks to their surroundings that Illias recognized. It was the same one Max had been doing to make sure the guards weren’t watching him.

Everyone did it when they were about to do something fun.

Or scary…

What Max did was both.

But he could hear some words between them.

“…life…”

“…Cursed Legion…”

“…our insiders…”

“…Class Shard?”

Old Goat stopped a few feet away from him and waved off his friends. None of them said a word when they left. No goodbyes, see you laters, maybe next time, or any of the dozens of ways his grandpa said to make people leave when he wanted them to leave.

Are they going to be back at night? Those old people are sneaky…

Old Goat turned back at him. “Inside.”

Illias did as he was told. He opened their rickety door and felt the wave of heat from the fire at the center of their home was over him as he stepped in. The place was sparse of any furniture or rooms. Just one large living area that was their sleeping rooms, cooking area, cleaning area, and general living area.

This was the best they’ve ever had and the biggest.

Illias loved it.

Old Goat walked in behind him and grabbed two crates. He set them down next to the fire.

“Sit.”

Illias sat.

“Speak.”

The boy looked at Old Goats face… and gulped.

Old Goat is upset. He’s soooo upset.

“Well?”

Illias sighed and spoke. It came out in a long winded tumble of words, hand waving, legs kicking, and in a certain scene, him nearly falling into the fire while trying to explain how tall the guard that caught him was. The pale captain that Max had spoken to at the end.

And then he spoke about what Max had said near the end.

How betrayed he felt.

They were brothers in crime… or so he thought. If he was being honest, he had no idea what to believe.

Was Max just using him like he said? Did he actually think he was dumb and stupid?

Did he really believe that Illias was soulless because he had red hair?

By the end he found himself crying in Old Goats embrace. His grandpa held his shoulder and patted his head to calm him down. He could barely get a word in.

Illias looked up, still hiccuping. “D-Do you… Do you think he meant it?”

Old Goat considered what to say for a moment. He tended to do that when he needed to think, that pause and look at the ceiling before he finally figured out what he wanted to say. This one lasted longer than any before it.

“You’re old enough to know…”

“Know what? What am I old enough for–”

“Stop. Let me speak,” Old Goat smiled and continued to speak in his slow measured voice. “Max intentionally played the bad guy to save you from the guards.”

“Save me from the guards? They were going to either beat us up some or throw us into the jail house for a few hours to scare us. The guards don’t ever do anything worse…” Illias paused when Old Goat began to shake his head.

“Do you know what Max stole?”

Illais shook his head. He didn’t quite care what the older boy stole as long as he was involved.

“He stole a Class Shard.”

Illias blinked without understanding.

Old Goat sighed and thought for a moment. “How much is a piece of bread worth?”

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“One copper from Mrs. Lindsey! Five copper if you want a puffy soft one from the mean baker near the west gate–”

“Good. Max stole something worth,” Old Goat paused to calculate how much it was. “He stole enough bread to feed the entire city twice over. Maybe that was a bad example.”

Illias’s mouth dropped open.

Enough to feed the entire city? And everyone gets two pieces of bread too? Was that why Max was talking about bread before they took him?

“T-That’s a lot of bread…”

“Yeah. The guards aren’t going to be kind to him. His punishments will be severe.”

“Are they going to beat him until he is almost dead?”

Old Goat shook his head. “They’re going to execute him–”

Illias’s eyes widened.

Old Goat stood up and began to stare at the ceiling again. He began speaking to himself.

“…or he can invoke the Cursed Legion. Just need to figure out how to get the information to him…”

Cursed Legion? The other seniors mentioned it too.

Illias froze. “Grandpa?”

Old Goat stopped pacing and turned to him.

“Everyone thinks Max is an evil person.”

Old Goat hummed agreement in response.

“They say mean things about him a lot now when they’re acting like they are being nice to me.”

Old Goat hummed again.

“And you’re saying he isn’t mean… that he saved me from being executed?”

Old Goat hummed for a third time.

Illias’s face resolved itself and he nodded. He stood up and walked out without saying another word.

I won’t let people talk bad about my friends!

He picked up a cold pebble and waited for the next person who went out of their way to find him and fake their kindness and worry for what happened to him. They would suffer for speaking bad about his… Brother in Crime.

Max was shoved into a damp, dark cell made of large blocks of stone. The bars to the gateway were as thick as his forearm and impossible to bend. He turned to watch as the guard clicked the lock securely, put the key in his pocket, and then left without nary a word.

He knew he should have been more terrified than he was right now, but he wasn’t.

Of course, his hands trembled and legs felt heavier than ever before, but his mind was stuck on a simple truth. He had a Skill Shard that cost over two-hundred and fifty gold coins in his System Inventory just waiting for the perfect chance for him to use. It didn’t matter what type of skill it was or whether it was good or bad.

It would unlock The Ledger and that was enough because it was everything he had been planning and his future in a crystal bigger than his fist.

And he had the achievements and skills to prove it now.

Max smiled.