Hugo raced down the alley way. He was running by the hotel and some unknown building. Just as he got to the back of the Gilded Lilly, he heard the mercenary get to the mouth of the alley. He gave himself another shield and jumped to the side.

A trio of crystal stiletto daggers streaked down the alleyway at Hugo. The first one disintegrated his shield and the next one clipped his arm. The third one hit the side of the hotel as Hugo fell behind it. He immediately got to his feet and started running again.

As he ran, he created barriers in the air, stepping up them as he ran. The roof of the hotel was too high up for him to get there in time. He redirected to the two story building behind it. Just as he got to the lip of the building, the riese mercenary turned the corner.

She raced down the alleyway underneath Hugo as he carefully stepped up to the roof. He immediately ducked down so she couldn’t see him from the street. The roof was slanted and tiled with stone, so he had to almost lay down to get out of sight and keep himself from slipping off. He quietly groaned as he gave up and lay on his right side.

His left arm was in agony and bleeding from two wounds. He knew enough not to try and take the crystal stiletto from his shoulder. It would just make the bleeding much worse. He had to do something about the long gash across his left forearm. That was bleeding enough it would start dripping on the street below soon. Carefully, he took off his shoes and used both socks to bind the wound.

Ettel royalty must really hate him to send such a powerful assassin or mercenary after him. If Hugo hadn’t distracted her and run right away, he would be dead. His barrier shields had been destroyed but they saved his life a few times as well.

He stayed on the roof for a bit trying to control his breathing. A check of his mana showed five points left. Enough for a pair of shields, and that was it. It would be difficult to even get down from here with that much. He still had his crossbow slung across his shoulders, but no ammo. Five points wouldn’t be enough to create a single metal bolt.

He slipped his shoes back on as he thought about what to do. His best bet would be to lay up here until he had some mana back. He needed to leave the city as soon as possible, but he wouldn’t survive if tried to run now.

Footsteps echoed below him. Someone was pacing the street below him. He didn’t dare peek over the edge, it was probably the mercenary. Carefully, he unslung his crossbow, making sure not to make a sound. He couldn’t afford to fabricate a metal bolt. But a wooden one would be much cheaper. If he concentrated on the formula and efficiencies, five points would be enough.

With a careful handle on his mana and a strong mental image, Hugo ran over the formula and pushed mana into fabricate. Moments later, he had an orange osage arrow. He loaded it in and carefully cocked it. Feeling a little better about his ability to protect himself, he lay back and listened to the footsteps below him.

By now it was clear she was down there. Hugo didn’t know why she hadn’t moved on to a different part of town, but she kept walking up and down the alley. She had searched the building below him twice by the time he had gained four points of mana back.

“Don’t move. It wouldn’t be the first time I had to disappear a promising formation mage for the guild. And don’t count on your barrier friend to help you, no one else can see us up here,” a menacing voice said behind him.

Somehow she had gotten on the roof behind him without Hugo noticing. She had probably just jumped up here. He was about to flicker a shield and roll off the edge when a thought occurred to him. “Wait. Guild? Which guild?”

“The metal guild of course. What, have you pissed off more than one guild?” she said.

“No, just some asshole royals,” Hugo said, not mentioning it was the king and queen after him, “Why does the metal guild want me?”

“Don’t act stupid with me. The shields, Lina, the shields. Every formation mage knows that mithril can only be sold by the metal guild. You have to have a permit just to pick the element. Put the weird contraption down and slowly stand up. Don’t turn around,” she said.

Hugo slowly complied as he said, “I didn’t know that actually. I am not from around here. I don’t mind talking to the metal guild and getting a permit. I am sure there is some sort of fine, and I can pay that too. I am sorry I ran from you. I thought you were someone far less reasonable.”

“Put your hands behind your back,” she gruffly said, “If you are trying to sell the shields without a permit, there is no way you can afford the fine. You will be lucky if they decide to indenture you.”

Hugo relaxed. If she wasn’t trying to kill him, maybe he could buy his way out of this. Even if he had to pay a couple platinum for the fine, he could make that much in a few days. He used the last of his mana to fabricate a small lockpick before he put his hands behind his back. Just in case.

After she cuffed him with lead cuffs, she slung him over her shoulder and jumped off the roof. Hugo didn’t bother to hide his painful howl. The jump had been rough on his arm and shoulder. It dislodged the stiletto in his shoulder. Hugo got a bit of perverse pleasure from the fact that he was bleeding all over her armor. He made a mental note to come back to this rooftop to retrieve his crossbow.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at their destination. It was an imposing building, a metal gate led inside to a building with barred windows and metal grates along the walls. It turned out the the woman was a huntsman employed by the metal guild. There were special rituals the huntsmen used to track down their prey.

They stuck Hugo in a side room while they got someone ready to talk to him. Thankfully, someone provided him with a healing potion. They said they would add it to his fine.

Eventually a fat nox came into the room with stacks of papers. He sat down and said, “Alright Lina. Before we get into things, let me remind you we know who you are and we found you before. Don’t consider breaking any of the contracts you will be signing today. We won’t be sending a huntsman next time, understand?”

“Yes sir. No one defies the metal guild and stays alive,” Hugo said calmly.

“Precisely. The law says that only we can sell certain dangerous metals and we are authorized to keep it that way. Now, since you are young and didn’t try to directly compete with us, my supervisors have decided to let you off lightly,” he said and held up packets of papers one at a time, “This first contract is an agreement that you won’t sell anything with mithril in it ever again for as long as you live. That’s non-negotiable, don’t even consider complaining. This next document details the fine you have for breaking the law. This final contract is an indentureship contract. You will have to work for us until the fine is paid off. Don’t bother reading any of them, you don’t have a choice if you want to stay alive.”

Hugo picked up the pen and signed the first document. It wouldn’t be a problem to stop selling things he had fabricated. Diagrams were the way to go. He signed the second contract, but took the time to read it.

“I said don’t bother reading it. You can’t negotiate. I’m serious,” the fat nox said as he looked up at her.

“I was just checking the total and seeing if there are any early payment penalties,” Hugo said as he signed the second contract. He handed the third one back to the nox unsigned. “I would like to pay the fine now. I have the sixty-four gold with me now. Will I also be able to get a receipt today as well?” He patted his coin pouch to make the gold jingle.

“Gold? You have sixty-four gold with you today?” the nox sputtered out.

“Yes,” Hugo calmly said.

“But why... the permit is only ten gold ... why?” he said.

“Like I said to them when I got here. I didn’t know it was illegal. I am not poor, I was just misinformed earlier. I am fully prepared to pay my fine today as long as I can get some proof that it was paid.”

“One. One moment,” the nox said and rushed out the door.

It took some doing, but eventually Hugo walked out of the guild hall with a receipt and an admonishment to never sell mithril again. They also provided him with a full list of all the elements he would need a permit to fabricate.

He collapsed onto the hotel bed. Today had been a really shitty day. Started like crap, got better in the middle and ended like shit. He just wanted to go to sleep.

Unfortunately he couldn’t fall asleep. He tossed and turned in bed for a while before he gave up on the idea. He got up and got dressed in his nice dress. He put aside a single gold coin, and pocketed the remaining twenty-two gold. He was going to have a lot of fun tonight and he wouldn’t mind losing all his gold. He briefly considered taking the ravim he had to make it a better night, but taking drugs hadn’t treated him well the last time.

The first thing Hugo did when he got to the casino was to call a server over and hand over a gold. He said, “Is that enough to buy everyone in here a round?”

She just stared at the gold in her hand for a moment. She shook her head and said, “Yes, more than enough. I can bring you the change when we are done. It will take some time to bring everyone a new drink.”

“That’s fine. Start with getting me a gargleblaster and keep the change,” Hugo said with a smile.

“Yes my lady,” she answered smartly and sped away.

A gargleblaster was in his hands before he even got to the tables. He started the night with a bit of poker. He found that he didn’t really like it. Playing with tiles wasn’t as fun as cards. He had only played poker with cards a few times before, but it was enough to form a preference. After he lost two gold, he got back up and looked for a new game.

As he walked through the casino, he got numerous thanks. Apparently the word had gotten out that the giant woman in the sparkly dress was the one that bought everyone a round. He tried a few other games, chuck-a-luck and roulette, but didn’t stay long. He was crowded with well wishers hoping for another drink.

He walked over to the Mahjong bloodthirsty tables. This was the section of the casino for those with a substantial amount of money. He figured that his eighteen gold counted and it would get the annoying people off his back.

As he walked up to a table, a nox attendant appeared in front of him, “Hello madam. So nice to see you today. As the bloodthirsty tables are by invite only, may I please ask who invited you here?”

Hugo frowned; he thought that money was enough. Now he had to have connections too. He looked around and then saw someone he knew. It was the buyer for the Durban army, Commissioner Binh. “I know that guy over there, Binh. Is that enough?”

Binh looked up at the mention of his name. When he saw Hugo he waved him over. Hugo walked around the surprised nox and joined Binh at the table.

“Glad to see you, Lina. I am guessing by the fact that you bought everyone a round that you are feeling rich today,” Binh said. He seemed happy to see Hugo, but the other players at the table gave him the stink eye.

“Not rich. I am just willing to spend a lot of money to have fun tonight,” Hugo said. He exchanged the rest of his gold for chips.

The other players at the table were much more welcoming after that. Hugo remembered how to play from when Binh taught him, but he didn’t expect to win. He was just out to have a fun night. The other three men opened up to him after he lost three gold in a single round.

It turned out that one of them was the deputy mayor of the city. The other two were Binh’s competition, food buyers for the country of Durban. The way they talked, the army got most of the grains and they bought what was left to resell to the commercial food industry there.

After Hugo had his second gargleblaster, he was just past buzzed and into drunk territory. His drunk mind said, “Oh hey. You guys are all wise with the ways of the world. Someone told me that shimmer mountain is a massive ritual. Not just the top, but the whole thing. Any of you know if that is true or not?”