The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

The door swung open and Isaac was faced by a man with pitch black eyes. His hair – which was also black – was medium length and covered his forehead, but it was well-combed and tidily kept. His skin was pale as snow and his coat was made from the white fur of arctic foxes. He stared at Isaac for a second, then spoke,

"Well? What are you knocking on my door for?"

"Can I come inside and talk? I'd like to discuss something with you."

"I apologise, but I don't have time for useless things. I'm going to need you to leave."

Isaac stopped him just as he was about to shut the door,

"Just wait a minute and hear me out – you won't lose anything just from listening to me. I have a job and I think you're the right man to do it."

"Look, I don't even know who you are. I won't accept jobs from random people, so I'll ask you one more time. Please leave."

Hayden tried to close the door again, but Isaac tightened his grip on the door and stopped him,

"My name's Isaac Dahl. I came 4th in the trials, so I'm not just a random nobody. I know we've never met before and you probably don't trust me, but my time's just as valuable as yours. I wouldn't waste it looking for you unless I had a good reason to do so. I promise that the job will benefit you just as much as it will benefit me, so why don't we go inside and talk?"

Hayden recognised the name Isaac Dahl, since it had been quite prominent during his time in the academy. Just listening to Isaac's proposition wouldn't hurt, so he sighed lightly and said,

"... I guess you can come inside."

The two of them entered the house and Isaac closed the door behind him. Compared to the basic furnishings in most newcomer residences, Hayden's house was quite lavish. He had a potted plant in each corner of the room, 3 paintings on the walls, and statues and ornaments in various spots all around the house. He'd also replaced the low shin-height table with a proper dinner table and there were 3 well-carved wooden chairs placed around it.

Isaac had also seen the coat Hayden wore, which was made from the white fur of arctic foxes. It seemed like Hayden preferred the finer things in life, since all of this would cost at least 4 reward points – reward points which could've been spent on Basic Qi Pills.

Hayden sat down at the table and Isaac did the same. Then he got out his notebook and began reading,

"Hayden Stromberg. Ranked 9th in the trials, was somewhat successful in the academy, then surprisingly chose the Ice Shield Anima. He excels in the area of defence and also possesses impressive survival skills–"

Hayden cut Isaac off.

"I know who I am and I know what I've done. Stop reading that and please get to the point."

"I need someone with the survival skills and the ability to defend others. Can you do this?"

"Of course I can. Actually, you just read it out, you already know I can–"

"No. What I meant was: can you do it better than anybody else?"

Hayden didn't hesitate or pause to think about it. He proudly answered,

"Yes, I believe I can. That's why you've come to me, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is. I've heard that you even survived for a week in the wild without any supplies."

Isaac quickly realised that Hayden was quite a vain person, so he added a line of flattery. However, Hayden scoffed,

"A week? No, I spent 11 days braving the wind, snow, and wild beasts. Whoever told you it was a week was mistaken."

"Then it seems that you're even more qualified than I thought. And in terms of defensive capabilities... how skilled are you with the Ice Shield Anima?"

"I'm clearly the best among the new disciples. Other than myself, none of the top 30 newcomers picked a defensive Anima, so I can confidently say I'm unsurpassed."

Isaac would need to see Hayden in action to be 100% convinced, but what he'd just heard showed how talented Hayden was. After a brief discussion, he confirmed that Hayden was the real deal and he needed to recruit him to his team, so he began to slowly change the subject of their conversation,

"If you're so skilled, I imagine you're already part of a team – and a pretty good one at that."

"Of course I am. I joined Erik Baldur, the academy's combat genius and the man nicknamed 'Champion of the Trials'. Surely you've heard of him."

"Of course I have, I even took the trials with him. He's got quite a controlling personality..." Isaac sighed dramatically, " *haaah* I just think it's a shame someone as talented as you works under his thumb."

The pride in Hayden's expression melted like snow on a summer's day, revealing moderate anger at Isaac's statement,

"What did you say? Under his thumb?! Erik's a friend of mine, not just a teammate. We make decisions as a group – none of us work for Erik, so don't speak that way."

Isaac dropped his laid-back act and became more serious. He addressed Hayden in a solemn tone,

"I know Erik Baldur and I know how he operates. That man does not have friends: he has subordinates and he has enemies. Maybe he's changed these past 2 years; that could be the case. But from what I saw of him during the trials, I don't believe such a thing is possible. If you waste your time toiling away for him, that's up to you and I'll leave right now. But if you want any form of freedom or autonomy, I suggest you leave that team as soon as possible – he might be comradely at first, but that's just to hook you. Then, he'll reel you in and catch you before you even realise what's happening.

"That's simply my advice, and I hope you consider it. As for the job I'd like to commission you for... I don't think Erik would even let you accept it."

Hayden's expression was one of poorly concealed indignation. Isaac's words had truly angered him, but he couldn't help wondering if there was any truth in them. Though he didn't really believe Isaac, he'd already made up his mind to talk to Erik; they needed to discuss their team's chain of command and whether it would change in the future.

He decided to trust Erik for now, but he would keep Isaac's advice in mind,

"I'll ask Erik whether I can accept a commission – I'm sure he'll say yes. Come back in a couple of days and we can discuss it again."

Of course, Isaac wouldn't refuse this offer. Getting Hayden to doubt Erik would be a gradual process that couldn't be done in just one day. He'd already planted the seed of doubt in Hayden's mind, so now he just needed to wait for that seed to grow and blossom.

Coming back in 2 days would be perfect, so Isaac readily accepted and left Hayden's residence.

However, he didn't go back home. He still had more potential teammates to visit, so he decided to meet his favourite candidate for the position of melee fighter.

Thankfully, he had more information on this person than he had on Hayden: her name was Eva Damsgaard and he had a record of details such as whether she was in a team and where her house was. She was a 3rd class talent who hadn't joined a team yet, so getting her to join should be less troublesome than getting Hayden. However, you shouldn't underestimate her just because she was a 3rd class talent: she was brave – bordering on reckless – and there were many stories about her fearsome combat talent.

It had no bearing on how well she'd do in the team, but Isaac preferred less talented but hardworking people such as her over vain show-offs such as Hayden. Ultimately, ability was all that mattered so he didn't hesitate in trying to recruit Hayden, but he would be happy to have somebody like her on the team as well.

Isaac thought this as he walked over to where she lived. It took about 15 minutes to walk to her house, and when Isaac arrived, he knocked on the door.

He waited, and he waited, and he waited a few moments more, but nobody answered. He knew somebody was in the house – he'd heard the clanging of pots and pans as they made lunch. However, they didn't come to the door.

Since they wouldn't come to the door, Isaac didn't stop knocking. Yes, it might annoy Eva and give Isaac a lower chance of recruiting her, but at least it would force her to talk to him. If he couldn't even do that, he had no chance of recruiting her.

Thus he persisted with his knocking.

3 minutes passed by and nobody came to the door...

5 minutes passed by but Isaac kept knocking...

10 minutes passed by...

15 minutes...

20...

Finally, when Isaac had been knocking for half an hour, *Creeeeak* The door opened a crack. An eye stared disdainfully at Isaac through the thin slit, and a cold voice spoke,

"Piss off."