Raid: The Blacksmith-Chapter 88: Talk of The Town [The Blonde Haired Young Man]: Part One

Chapter 88: Talk of The Town [The Blonde Haired Young Man]: Part One

"Okay Raid, listen." Uncle Chadwick gets up from his seat and looks straight at me. "Since you’re not planning on going to any Dungeons anytime soon, not to mention you’ve already killed off two of the most influential members of the Reinhardt Family, it’s best you keep a low profile from now on." He then approaches and leans his upper body forward over to me to meet my gaze, eye to eye, and then adds. "For. Real. This. Time."

"... Uhh... r-right... y-yeah..." I stutter.

"He’s not kidding."

"Actually, I uh... I just checked out of the Phoenix Hotel, not to long ago. Thought I could crash here for now, if that’s possible."

"You wanna live here?" Uncle Chadwick queries. "Hm... my initial plan was to get you sorted in a nice remote safe house, but strategically speaking, it would be better for you if you stayed here full time. Question is, where exactly would you sleep? My office, maybe?" He strokes his bearded chin with a contemplative expression on his face.

"Oh no, I wouldn’t actually be staying here full time." I cut in. "My plan was that I’d be sleeping in my Item Space, so technically, it would only look like I’m staying here full time, so as to not draw any unwanted attention to myself."

"Item Space?" Uncle Chadwick echoes.

"Are you talking about your spatial storage Skill?" Peyton chimes in to ask.

"Yeah, it’s actually inhabitable now." I answer.

"Say what!? When did that happen-"

"Hold on... are you talking about the spatial storage you took out those daggers from?" Melissa cuts Peyton off to ask with a curious tone.

"That’s the one." I affirm, which, yet again, leads to all three of them looking at me with weird faces once more. That is, until Uncle Chadwick breaks the silence with another one of his signature sighs.

"Okay... so what I’m hearing is, you want to use this building as a cover to prevent you from having to disappear and reappear in weird, random, unsecured places where people might spot you, is that it?" Nail on the head Uncle.

"Yes, that’s it." I nod.

"Hah... alright... do what you want... there’s some things I need to take care of, and a well deserved drink to have after what I went through today. I’ll be off then. And although this probably doesn’t hold much weight, be good you three." He waves us off as he leaves, walking towards one of the five elevators situated on the other side of the lobby. His last words and tone, kind of leave me with a hint of guilt due to the stress I’m inevitably causing him to have.

"You’re really gonna end up turning our boss into an old man, you know?" Peyton teases with a small chuckle.

"Isn’t he already an old man?"

"He is. So that should encourage you to go a little easier on him." Melissa interjects almost immediately after my rhetorical question.

"Hah... it’s not like I’m intentionally trying to make things troublesome for him... maybe it’s just bad luck."

"Yeah, right." Peyton immediately shuts me down. "Bad luck? As if. This coming from the guy whose growth rate goes against every law the System has?"

"I wouldn’t exactly say, ’’every’’ law."

"Speaking of which..." Adds Melissa. "You’ve gotten stronger, right? Mind showing us just by how much?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Whoa, that’s unlike you Melly. Initiating a sparring match like that." Peyton comments, her facial expression looking like a would be mixture of both surprise and intrigue.

"Yeah, I think Raid might have rubbed off on me." Melissa states, turning to her left to look at Peyton with a thin smile.

"Yeah that’s... that’s not exactly a good thing, Melly."

"Hey! Rude!" I shout at Peyton’s judgy comment internally.

"She’s kind of right, Ma-"

"Don’t you start, too." I shut Dawn off before she can even finish, then shift my gaze towards Melissa. "Alright, let’s do it. I need to gauge my own strength as well, anyway."

"Okay, let’s go then." She replies. With that, we walk back towards the opposite direction of the five elevators and the up the stairway to the surface of the interior balcony in order to use the Main Elavator.

We then take the Main Elavator to the 14th Floor and start searching for an unoccupied Training Room once we get there, walking around the halls and chatting along the way.

It takes a while but we finally find an empty Training Room.

We go inside and step on to the surface of the arena. Peyton steps back and then sits herself at the seating arrangements.

Instead of a spear, I go for two daggers this time. Melissa, to no surprise of my own, picks a longsword.

We take our battle stances, and on Peyton’s call;...

"Begin!"

We clash...

*******

"Well would you look at that. Super rookie’s out of the B-Rank Dungeon. Not only that, the bastard actually cleared it." Says a light skinned blonde haired young man wearing fancy looking glasses, who looks to be in his early twenties. He’s seated on the far left of a black leather three person couch, with a laptop on his lap. Wearing light green fabric. A humble short sleeve shirt and short trousers with rubber sandles for his feet. His name is Felix. Felix Weinstein.

"What!?" Another young man sitting right next to him on the couch exclaims. Like Felix, he seems to be in his early twenties, although unlike Felix, he’s black and his hair is styled much like an afro, only a tad smaller in size. As for his clothes, he’s wearing long black trousers and a v-neck vest. However, he’s currently barefooted and holds in his hand a fairly sizable bowl of oats, eating while seated with his legs crossed on the couch as if meditating.

He’s not meditating.

His name is Chifala. Chifala Okubaya.

Right next to him is his younger sister, an adorable young black girl who looks like she’s still in her teen years. Her name, Chifa Okubaya. She’s eating from the same bowl as her older brother. Her black hair is weaved in a ponytail, and she’s wearing a red hoodie so oversized, you’d swear belongs to her older brother. Finishing her set up with pink sweat pants, she’s also barefooted and is seated on the couch the same way her older brother is, as if mirroring him. She doesn’t speak and only takes advantage of her brother’s every-now-and-then breaks from eating the food they’re sharing, in order to eat her own fill without the slightest bit of shame.

On to the other side of the room is another three person couch of the same design and color, facing the one these three are seated on like a reflection.

Between the two couches is a sizable coffee table. On top of said-table, is a cup of coffee placed atop a coaster, and by it, a glass of pure red wine with its half-full bottle right next to it. These... refreshments, belong to none other than a white woman who goes by the name, Ruby, Ruby Montgomery, and another japanese lady by the name of Saika, Saika Gojo, respectively. They’re both seated on the couch facing the one Felix, Chifala and Chifa are seated on, and both look around the same age as Felix and Chifala.

Ruby, a deep-red haired beauty, with the shape of an hour glass, is wearing a pure white spandex long sleeve shirt, along with tight dark-grey yoga pants, all of which seems to compliment her curves in ways that would make most women envious.

Saika, however, doesn’t fall short in the slightest in that department. Her ponytailed black silky hair runs down to the centre of her back, fluttering weakly with each turn of her head. She’s also wearing yoga pants that exalt her bewitching curves. Yet hers are a deep blue color. And as for her upper body, it’s only but a blue sports bra that keeps her chest, sizable as it is, grounded and covered.

Both ladies, much like Chifala and Chifa, are barefooted. However, unlike the siblings, they’re resting their feet on the soft fluffy wide mat covering most of the floor beneath.

These are the members of a reputable party known only as Silent Wind.

About six to seven hours after Raid returned from clearing the B-Rank Dungeon. In a small building three blocks away from the Phoenix Hotel, the members relax and chat with one another, taking a breather from an A-Rank Dungeon they explored not to long ago. Only about thirty to forty minutes ago in fact. The building they’re in is one they all pitched in to buy for themselves, and now acts as their base of operations. A home away from home, if you will. It’s only small in comparison to the skyscrapers that make up most of Niger’s District-2. Otherwise, it’s very sizable. Even a tad more so than some five person houses. It’s a three floor abode, with the second floor consisting of all the members’ individual bedrooms and three separate bathrooms, while the third floor, on the other hand, consists of a storage room and a large training room.

The members are currently in the first floor, seated in the living room, behind which is a kitchen and a dining room, all of which aren’t separated by any doorways.

"Yeah, look." Felix replies to Chifala’s previous surprised comment to his mention of a super rookie clearing a B-Rank Dungeon.

And of course, it goes without saying, that the super rookie in question, is none other than... Raid. The F-Rank. The Blacksmith.

Felix shows Chifala the contents of the laptop he holds on his lap. In it, is an article about Raid clearing the B-Rank Dungeon. It’s a different one from the one Melissa, Chadwick and Peyton read before they met with Raid however, as this one is more detailed, considering a decent amount of time has passed.

"Guess he chose ’head held high’ instead of ’tail tucked between legs’ then." Ruby murmurs just enough to be heard as she sips her coffee.

"Heh, I knew my guy would own that Dungeon like a boss!" Saika comments with ebullience while holding her glass of wine and waving it around.

"Look at this. ’F-Rank says ’’don’t take Ranks at face value’’.’" Chifala starts to read in fascination after readily handing over the bowl of oats to Chifa. "’While Ranks help in narrowing things down, they’re not the only way to measure a Warrior’s strength. So sayeth the Blacksmith.’, Christ, who the hell wrote this?"

"A super fan?" Felix jokes.

"Can’t blame him. This Raid guy seems like he isn’t exactly the type you can afford to ignore, try as you might." Ruby chimes in to say, with a somewhat nonchalant expression while she continues to sip through her coffee.

"Ain’t that the truth." Felix agrees with a lazy laugh as he continues reading through the article alongside Chifala.

Chifa, sitting next to the both of them just continues eating her food, seemingly unbothered by it all.

"Look at that, there’s new pictures too, taken just earlier today." Felic notices.

"Wait a minute... that suit design... so he works for the Warriors Association, is it?" Chifala comments as he observes.

"What?" Saika and Ruby exclaim in unison.

"Is that it then? Does that mean that he might have really Falsified his Rank after all? With the help of the Warriors Association?" Saika asks, the question basically hanging in the air.

"I don’t think that’s the case. If so, wouldn’t they make sure that he performs on the level of an F-Rank to keep the facade solid? No, I think what’s really happening here is simple. The Warriors Association was just one step ahead of basically every Guild and party in all of Niger."

"You’re saying they were able to tell how much potential he had from the get go and decided to jump straight into it and recruit him? Completely looking passed his Rank in the process?" Felix asks Ruby in response to her statement.

"It makes a lot more sense, don’t you think...?" She pauses to take another sip of her coffee. "Heh. Those sly bastards." Then snickers.

"Don’t tell me. You wanted to recruit him yourself, Cap?" Chifala asks Ruby with a playful smirk.

"I’ll admit the thought did cross my mind. Thing is, I think it goes without saying." Her tone turns cold, and her gaze, all the more serious as she adds. "He’s way stronger than me."

"Maybe, but..." Saika jumps in. "You’re way more experienced!" She says as she hugs her Party Leader without warning, their drinks almost spilling from the impact.

"Okay, okay, let go of me you drunk!" Ruby laughs and dismisses her verbally, but does little to pull away.

"But man. I gotta hand it to the Warriors Association. Those bastards are quick. It hasn’t been that long since the man became an official Warrior, and yet, they already have him in their palms." Felix comments as he briefly pushes his glasses up with one finger.

"It probably helps being the only way Warriors can obtain an official identification in the first place." Ruby’s comment has her whole crew laughing at the sheer convenience of it all.

The members continue to chat amongst themselves. Laughing and enjoying each other’s company through the night.