Shortly after Shad and Torin parted ways, Sigmarus stirred on Torin’s shoulder. His eyes quivered open, and he looked around in a daze. Red neon light battered his vision, deepening the headache throbbing in his skull. A low groan slipped from his lips.

“Oh. You’re finally awake,” Torin said.

Since he did not want to carry Sigmarus all the way to their destination, Torin set him down against a nearby building. Once again, Sigmarus groaned. He opened his eyes in order to figure out his situation. A few bystanders glanced their way but quickly minded their own business after seeing the leaf tattoo on Torin’s arm.

“What happened?” Sigmarus asked while clutching his aching head in one hand.

“Shad accidentally knocked you out, and I’m bringing you to the gang’s doctor. Can you walk?”

“Uhh. Probably. Give me a minute.”

Torin nodded in response.

From there, Sigmarus closed his eyes and tried to recall everything. Luckily, he could see the memory of getting hit by a blur in the ring, and even arriving at the gym beforehand. Earlier memories such as meeting Grace and Elizabeth were there as well.

Don’t think my memory was affected. That’s good.

“How long was I out?”

“Not long. A few minutes.”

“Gotcha. Don’t think a doctor is necessary, then.”

“Oh, I’m not bringing you there because of you getting knocked out. It’s because of something else, but I’ll tell you what it’s about when people aren’t around.”

Sigmarus raised a brow and then sighed. Although he didn’t know what the man wanted to do, he didn’t think his intentions were bad. His headache gradually faded, and he rose to his feet while bracing himself with a palm against the cement wall.

“Alright. I’m probably good,” Sigmarus said.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, alright then,” Torin mumbled while turning around to lead the way down the street. Before even taking a step, though, he looked at Sigmarus with anxious eyes and added, “Before I forget, don’t be surprised by anything you might see there. Our doctor is a bit of an oddball.”

Sigmarus nodded and followed, wholly unaware of how shocking the upcoming meeting would be.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shad ambled along a dark, unlit street. Normally, nobody aside from scavengers would travel here. Perhaps even scavengers didn’t bother searching this street since it had already been picked clean over the years due to being close to the main hub of the 42nd District’s underground. However, he sauntered along by memory without even using a flashlight. Each of his steps left little to no trace of his passing. He trekked through the darkness like a bull shark swimming downstream.

Eventually, he saw the dull flickering light from a candle in the distance. That lone candle was like a beacon along this lonely and forgotten street. Shad approached that flickering candle which silently rested atop a metal plate on an old wooden windowsill. The window behind it was covered in a thick layer of dust, hiding whatever hid within. The one story shack itself was in better repair than the crumbling ruins around it despite its age.

Bypassing any decency, Shad knocked on the rickety wooden door three times before swinging the door open with a loud creak, not that the owner would mind his abrupt intrusion. An old man sitting nearby on an old rocking chair raised his bespectacled brown eyes from a dusty book as thick as the width of a man’s palm. Thin gray hair covered the sides and back of his head, leaving the top of his skull bald and dotted with liver spots. In contrast to the man’s aged appearance, his thin body radiated an intimidating air even under his thin and ragged baggy smock and pants, though Shad knew very few people were capable of noticing it. To most, he would simply look like an old man who had lived much longer than normal in this toxic underground domain.

Only a few pieces of furniture decorated the otherwise dreary entryway living room of the three-room shack. Aside from the rocking chair, there was a pinewood bench wide enough for two people to sit on, a small oakwood bookshelf, a circular mahogany table, and a maplewood wall-mounted shelf. Several lit candles flickered atop both the wall-mounted shelf and the mahogany table, casting dancing shadows over every surface.

The old man calmly lowered his bronze-rimmed reading glasses to the end of his long pointed nose and blinked as though surprised by the sudden visit, though Shad knew better than to believe such a gesture. A moment later, the man calmly spoke with a gentle but raspy voice wizened by years of hardship.

“Hmm. What brings you here today, my rude but adorable grandson?”

Barely preventing himself from rolling his eyes, Shad closed the door behind him before trodding over to the wooden bench and sitting down in one swift motion. From there, he answered, “I’ve just got a bit of a question I thought you could answer for me.”

Suddenly, a thousand page book flew towards his face binding first. He barely caught it in one hand and set it down on the bench in order to check the damage to his hand. His palm was already red. It probably wouldn’t leave a bruise, though.

“Why can’t you come to visit your grandfather just for the sake of visiting, you ungrateful brat?”

Because you always beat my ass, Shad wanted to retort, though he successfully held it in after struggling to hold it back.

“Hoho~ I see the rebellion in your eyes, boy. Seems you’re still rude as ever. I suppose you need another lesson.”

Ignoring his grandfather who had stood up with a slumped posture yet maintained an air of intimidation, Shad said, “I met someone interesting today.”

The old man halted his approach and his angry eyes cooled down, eventually shining with curiosity.

“Tell this old man what a fool like you found interesting.”

Shad’s eye twitched, but he continued while observing his grandfather’s change in expression.

“The gang is trying to train a new climber, and Duke put me and Torin in charge.”

“Torin and I, you brat. I taught you better than that.”

“Yeah, whatever. Anywa-”

No more words came out of Shad’s mouth before his body flipped in the air and he faceplanted on the wooden floor. A single thwack echoed in the room as a wooden beam smacked his rear end. Luckily, the old man seemed to be in a good mood, so it ended there.

“What did I teach you about respecting your elders, boy?”

“Anyway,” Shad resumed, completely unperturbed by his crazy grandfather, “about the guy I’m supposed to train.”

“Yes. Yes,” The old man said while rubbing his hands together, “Explain.”

“I knocked him down once, but the second time he came at me, it felt like an army of eyes locked onto me, so I knocked him out on instinct. Torin went to go check for a PSM.”

“But you don’t believe it was a mutation?” The old man asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.

“Yeah. It felt a bit different. Thought your old brain might know something.”

Two swats to the ass later.

The old man sat back in his rocking chair and rubbed his poorly shaved chin. Nearby, Shad returned to his seat on the bench, waiting for his grandfather to speak.

Eventually, the old man stared at Shad with calm eyes and asked, “Did he know how to fight at all?”

“Nope.”

“But he still gave you pressure?”

“A little.”

“Interesting. Very interesting. How about you bring him over here sometime. This old man needs some entertainment.”

“No thanks. You didn’t tell me nothing.”

“Anything, not nothing. You’re taking after those underlings of yours too much.”

“Right… So what do you think?”

“He might have something similar to our family, so make him climb. He might be able to reach as high as you and that other youngster.”

“Duke?”

“Yes. Him.”

“Is that it?”

“I already told you to bring him here for my amusement. What else do you want, you ungrateful brat?”

“I don’t even know why I bothered coming here…” Shad mumbled to himself while shaking his head.

“Now, since you’re already here, how about some tea with this old grandfather of yours?”

“Your tea tastes like shit.”

The wooden beam instantly made its third appearance of the day.