ONE DROP OF BLOOD (ongoing)

CHAPTER 16: CRUELTY

"Is this all?!" a man's voice asked, distressed. He's wearing a dark, frock coat and from his hand, a wide list of metal and iron weaponry. He examines and reads all the details written in ink to a parchment paper. He has a light brown hair on top and darker under--almost black-- it's the part down to his neck.

"Yes. Much more than you can count." the other man answered. He's a bit corpulent and has a fat belly, yet his muscles are outstretched from his shoulders down to his knuckles.

He's wearing a hoodless, brown, top-cloak and silver crossed metal rings on his chest down to his thighs. He let his beard grow a little until his neck and his curly light yellow-streak hair is braided until his nape. He has a huge scar on his forehead down to his left cheek. His left eye is a little bit close because of the scar.

They are all surrounded by iron and metal gears and other wierd equipments.

"I heard you're assigned to deliver the bargain packages tonight, chosen by the boneless maggots at the palace." he moved closer to say.

"You mean the Council.. Well, yeah. It's my first time.." the man chuckled while still checking the number of weapons that were built and reproduced. Those new and broken pieces are separated behind them. They are inside a place Iike a ground floor facade or factory of metal and iron weapons.

There are men, shining in sweat, brandishing weapons with every muscle they have to aggressively forge irons and metals into new forms. Their eyes are flickering with light beside the furnace where they heat metals, and the other blacksmiths that forging iron. Every sound of their force are echoing and making some grating sounds. They are a bit far from them and are unaware. They have their own business to do.

The fat man asked, "Aren't you bothered by what they're doing?!" he asked with a bitter expression. "They're using so much of us and so many lives to feed and satisfy those monsters just because we couldn't take them down!

You'll never know when these fools who sit there wickedly-- acting like kings in this rotten world-- will throw you out in useless battles to die just like the others."

He wears a wry smile, a proud one, at the fat man. "Says who?" he said. "I'm not going to die.. I'm a forger, not a fighter!"

"Maybe for the meantime.." he replied.

"Don't alter what's yet ahead of me, Ergille!" he said, irritated of him. "If that is so, these weapons we build is just a waste of time. The Council ceased the order of fighting against our enemies for this purpose-- to build perfect weapons and strengthen the armies we have."

"Bah! You mean they're got scared!" Ergille replied with scorn. "They are coward dogs! Because no armies can take them down, and so the bargaining began! Is that it?! In exchange for temporary security! Their own security!" there's a feeling of resentment in Ergille's face.

"Whatever you say, Lexus.. Whatever you say, it would not change the fact that we're just like animals, born to be eaten! We, who have the lowest powers of all, the lowest of all Other-kinds! We are all meant to die like rubbish because the governing Council is no different at all!" he added.

They, who only have the power to forge weapons experimentally are the lowest ranked of Other-kind hollows. Their high intellect is just equal in comparison to human intelligence, those who could use 10 or maybe 11 percent of their brain as the highest. (Well, it's still just a myth for humans).

So, it's like they have no powers at all. They're called as Branch level, like branches of trees that could only survive if they have their own weapons glued to their side.