CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.7 'GREEN LIGHT'

Just as his new guardian had said, Andrei was up right in the morning to the sound of Zeshin's wooden sword sheath clanging against steel. Groaning, he had rolled out of bed with a head of messy hair, dressed in the same clothes that he had been wearing since he had gotten here. Stumbling, he nearly fell out of the building, much to the worry of Phanes, who had made himself a home amongst the mess of the Akoto twins and Andrei's belongings, now adding a bowl of food and water to the jumble of items atop the center table.

Yawning and grabbing hold of the ladder, Andrei kicked it down and grunted as it struck the hard ground. Without much hesitance, he simply leapt from the rungs of the ladder by the entrance, landing with a labored grunt and finding his way to his shockingly sturdy knees for someone so frail. He looked and Ban, scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile, and the two shared a glance before beginning to walk through the quiet streets of the Guild settlement, only the sound of the morning crows interrupting their meager conversations. "You know kid, things get serious once we start playing with sharp things... It's one thing to be carefree, it's another to be careless... I know your kind, you're damn near invincible. The key word there is 'near' though."

Andrei earned a glint of some form of remorse from Ban's eyes, and at the sudden serious tone, he straightened his back. "Right, I know... even if I can't die, it still hurts to get messed up like that... don't expect me to slack off."

He turned his head and gave a slight smile at the groggy conviction in Andrei's voice... he certainly wasn't built to be a soldier, at least not yet, but he certainly wasn't hopeless either. One hand on his belt, his other free hand moved to adjust his sunglasses, and he nodded to himself before slicking back his jet-black hair, causing it to reflect the morning sun. "Y'know, that's the kinda' stuff I like to hear, kid. Keep that up and you might do us some good around here, got it?"

At the comment, Andrei nodded and offered a cautious smile of his own. Ban had been nothing nice to him, so maybe he saw something that he himself hadn't. At his silence, Zeshin patted the sword at his side, in all of its menacing glory, and he shook his head. "Don't go expecting me to slack off though just because I told ya' something nice... Me 'nd that vampire, Hirano, we're giving you a crash course in swordsmanship. How much do you know about playin' with sharp stuff anyways?"

Andrei blinked and thought about it, but honestly, he couldn't recall anything. He had only ever used his fists since he woke up inside that skyscraper those few weeks ago. Shaking his head, he traded a look with Ban, and the older swordsman sighed before Andrei admitted his lacking knowledge. "Not a thing... I like to think I pick up quickly though."

Ban laughed at the comment, then took a sharp left, a shortcut that the Akoto twins hadn't shown him in their tour. Now taking the lead as Andrei filed behind him in the narrow walkway, the man turned back to flick up his glasses and look at Andrei. "Good. You're gonna' need to pick up, with all of the stuff that goes on around the Guild, kid!"

Stepping foot in the clearing which divided the rest of the settlement from the blacksmith built into the inner side of the wall, Ban stuck a pair of fingers into his mouth and let out a booming whistle. Andrei jumped at the noise beside the older man, and he lowered his sunglasses to look at the kid for a second before Hirano, the pale vampire from the day prior, made himself known from within the lopsided building. He pulled down the hood of his robe, throwing up his hand towards the sun as his face flushed a deep red, conflicting with the tight blue flesh which clung to his cheeks.

Slung over his other arm was a bulky blade, about the size of his person. Andrei gasped, and Ban couldn't help but begin laughing to himself nearly hysterically. Slapping the boy beside him on the back, the man wiped a tear from his eye before addressing Hirano. "Ha! You think you're funny Hiro! Is this because you lost that bet the other week? Where's the kid's actual weapon?" As Ban quieted himself down, Andrei looked at the massive sword... if he could lift it, he would definitely take it, just because he thought it looked cool over the vampire's shoulder.