Month Four: A True Test

"He did do exactly what we asked. This is their headquarters," Sky said to Ren, pointing his off-hand past her to reveal three more people with jagged blades, creeping out into the street.

"Hey, aren't you powerful enough to kill these guys?!" Ren asked, cowering behind Sky as much as she could.

"I don't plan to take a life here," Sky commented. He pushed back the first thief with brute strength, kicking him in the stomach and pushing the air out of his lungs as the three other men rushed in as fast as possible.

One jumped up above the other while another tried to get behind Sky. He brandished his knife with accuracy beyond belief, colliding with another blade, and twisting his body beyond his attacker while stabbing into his left lung as shallow as possible.

Sky grabbed the wrist of the next attacker, tilting it up and breaking it under the pressure of his tight grip, and dislocated his shoulder in a swift movement while dodging the third attacker's advances.

The first thief looped around to Ren, trying to gain the upper hand on Sky at the very least. Sky knocked the third attacker out with a swift kick to the back of the head and then locked eyes with the first thief as he grew closer to Ren.

As soon as he pushed out his hand to grab onto her wrist, Sky threw his knife and cut through his bone completely, severing his left hand. He screamed in anguish, as did the others around him who were still conscious.

"Woah... you didn't even use your strands! Impressive!" Ren called out. She got as close as she could to Sky while he looked at their bodies, attempting to infer who the most important one was. He gave up after a second, picking up the thief with the dislocated shoulder by his injured arm.

"Ah! Ah! Hold on!" The thief called out, tightly grabbing his forearm to prevent Sky from injuring him even further.

"You look like you really want this arm. Why don't you tell me where I can go to find your leader?" Sky asked the thief. He shook his head, keeping his lips tightly shut while groaning in pain over his arm.

"Oh, you seem to think just because I said I wasn't going to kill you, that I wouldn't make you regret being born," Sky said. He lifted the thief over his shoulder, flipping him completely and body-slamming him into the pavement until he heard something in his shoulder rip even further. After that point, Sky let him go and walked over to his legs, picking up his right leg and walking further into his body until the leg turned straight up to the sky.

From there, Sky put his hand on the base of his knee and locked eyes with him.

"You are endangering my people. Do you know what I do to those who endanger my people? I make it so the only thing they bother are their caregivers as they beg to be spoon-fed for the rest of their pathetic lives. You don't do it down here on Earth like we used to on The Pinnacle, so I suggest you wake up and keep your ability to walk. I can use strands, quite well, but I don't have a reason to for people who don't listen," Sky said to him. He whimpered through the whole threat, eventually breaking under the fear of his legs being broken.

"Under the capitol! Please! Don't hurt me!" The thief screamed out. Sky nodded, pushing strands through the ground and healing their injuries to as they were before. As soon as their injuries were healed, Sky recalled his knife into his hand and placed a deep wound onto the threatened thief's arm.

"You have a marking now. If I find you stealing anything ever again, and I will be checking that marking, then I will paralyze you from the waist down and throw you down a mountain. Do not mess with my people anymore," Sky said, kicking his weapon back to his side while turning back to the capitol building with Ren.

"How did we do it on The Pinnacle? We never punished people for thievery," Ren whispered. Sky smiled, putting his hands into his pockets.

"People are afraid of the unknown, threatened people are even more afraid. We'll keep that at that," He said. Ren was amazed by how he talked to people now, falsely idolizing Sky for being a badass.

"So, under the capitol... where is their entrance at?" Sky asked. He analyzed the building, the rounded shape, and the bushes around it, assuming they would enter through a hole near one of the bushes.

Sky and Ren both investigated as much as they could through the bushes until Sky turned his eyes up toward a nearby river with a tree beside it. He walked over to the tree, noticing a large rock behind it that seemed fake. He kicked it aside, realizing it was made of a fake material, and witnessed a hole open up with a ladder leading further into it. That was it.

"You can choose to stay up here, but I'm going to have to go in, unfortunately," Sky said. He slid down the ladder, looking up to see if Ren would join.

She jumped down instead of sliding, landing on the ground with a smile.

"You'll keep me safe! I trust you!" Ren said to Sky. He nodded, taking the lead in the dark, murky tunnel.

As they continued down the tunnel, Ren and Sky began to realize that the thieves' guild wasn't just a few people, but at least twenty. Happening upon a room full of bunk beds, Ren took the initiative and began to investigate everything they could. As of right now, all twenty thieves were mobilized, and a fifth of their forces attacked Sky at once. He felt honored, knowing he was that important to stop, but annoyed that this many people agreed to one cause. Crime was a given in a city, but knowing it was unstoppable was worse than annoying.