The next day came and Val and Len woke up. They got dressed for today and walked through the orphanage's hallways. They walked into each room they came across. Some were rooms that once belonged to kids before they left, others were either storage rooms or the library.
Finally, Vallen stopped in front of a single room. Its door was cracked and a dark brown color coated its surface. Beyond the door, Vallen could feel a deep cold coming from inside. It wasn't a cold you would feel when walking outside or the cold you would feel if splashing in water. It was a cold that felt unnatural?
[Hey Val, I know you're good friends with Orin, but are you sure we should go with him?]
'Why are you asking that?"
[Don't get me wrong, I am happy that he became friends with you. It's just that he gives me a bad vibe.]
'We talked about this, Len. Even though you don't get along with Orin, does not mean you should speak ill of him. You two haven't even met yet.'
[Still, my gut is telling me that you shouldn't go near him.]
'Listen, I understand where your fear comes from. Truly I do. But Orin is our one and only friend. He stayed with us in the orphanage and helped us the best he could. He even helped us train our magic and understand the flaw that many people make.'
[… I still don't trust him]
Before Val could respond back, the door in front of him creaked. Val focused back to reality as he saw the door open. Behind the door was a boy that appeared the same age as them. His body was skinny as theirs, but had a bit more fat on his bones. He was a bit taller than them by probably an inch or two. He wore a brown shirt and brown pants, with a pair of sandals made from two pieces of wood, with a single wooden block peeking out the center of its top. On his back was a brown coat that had some sort of black lining inside of it. It was something that Orin never took off just because it was given to him by Gregory.
But the most eye-catching thing about him was his hair and eyes. His hair was black and eyes as red as flames. This was one of the few side effects of him awakening his grimoire at a young age.
"Yo, why are you standing outside my door?" Orin asked as he looked at Vallen. A smile was on his face and a confused look in his eyes.
"Oh, sorry, I wanted to knock but… something popped in my mind that stopped me," Vallen said as he put an awkward smile on his face. His mind glaring at Len, who wasn't speaking.
"Oh, what was it?" Orin asked as he opened his door, giving Vallen permission to enter his room.
Vallen walked into the room. Its wooden surface all seemed cracked and had the same dark brown as the door. The only main thing in the room was a bed and a dresser, both made of metal. Though it seemed more spacious than his own.
"I was just thinking about the deal and how it is today," Vallen said as he leaned against the wooden wall. Standing back up when he felt several pieces of the wood jab through his thin clothes.
"Ah, that reminds me," Orin says as he runs to his bed and bent down to grab something from underneath. "You know how I used my flames to work in the town's forge to make us some spare change to ensure this place wasn't taken away from us?"
"Yeah I remember, you would always come back bragging how you would forge a new knife while at the same time practice with your flames," Vallen said as he tried to sit on the floor, but quickly stood up again. The wooden board stabbing through his thin clothes.
"Okay, be honest with me. Do I really brag that much?" Orin asked, a look of concern and embarrassment on his face.
"You do, sometimes over little things like how you could get us new pairs of clothes or when you created a new spell. But, I know you don't do it on purpose and have gotten used to it, so don't worry," Vallen said as he smiled at Orin, who just chuckled a bit as he pulled whatever he was grabbing from under his bed onto his bed.
What landed on his bed was a giant luggage case that had holes on its surface and some mold. But the mold quickly burned away as Orin placed his hands on its surface. He pats the surface of the case twice before opening it.
"Well, I told my boss that I would be leaving today and when he asked why I told him about our mercenary job. In response, he told me to wait a bit and went to the back. Coming back with these bad boys," Orin said as he revealed two things inside of it.
One was a pair of gloves with metal studs on the knuckles and rows of metal plating on the back of the glove and on the wrist. The other was a sword with some cracks on the surface, but seemed decent. It looked like it was maybe an inch, maybe an inch and a half, long with no guards, but a sharp spike on the pommel.
"He said that the gloves were something a customer ordered, but never came to retrieve while the blade was something he tried to fix, but could only make it more heavy and sturdy than usual," Orin said as he grinned at Vallen before offering his hand out, "Go ahead and choose, I'll take whatever you don't choose."
Vallen looked at the case and hovered over the gloves.
[Go for the blade.]
Val paused mid movement.
'Why, I feel like the gloves are a safer bet than the blade. I mean, it looks like it's going to break after a single clash.'
[Well, would you rather go fist for fist against someone with a blade or rather have some sort of actual defense against a strike.]
Val thought about it as he stared at the case.
[Besides, the gloves don't really fit our look. I mean, we look like a twig, while Orin actually has muscle. So him having the gloves would fit his look, besides doesn't his magic require him to use his hands? So it fits his style.]
After hearing what Len said, the Orin fighting style, not the looks, he grabbed the blade instead. This act made Orin look at Vallen, a bit more confused, but he just smiled as he grabbed the gloves.
"Weird choice, but alright," Orin said as he slipped the gloves on and flexed his hands.
"So, was this the surprise you had for us? You know, the one that you told us not to enter your room for?" Vallen said as he looked at the blade's cracked surface. Though it looked like it would break with a single hit, the weight of the blade seemed to say otherwise.
"Hm, oh no, that wasn't the surprise," Orin said as he flexed his hands open and held it out. Suddenly, a small black flame ignited and hovered above the center of his palm. It danced in his palm as bits of white flowed from its surface. Though it looked pretty to stare at, what caught Vallen's attention was its heat. From a small flame, you would expect to feel some warmth emanating from it.
But…
"There is no heat," Vallen said as he stared at the flame, eyes wide.
"Ha, yup, I trained all day yesterday to make my flames have no heat. I'm slowly training it to absorb the heat of the nearby surroundings. Soon my flames will be the strongest in the world," Orin said with a smug grin on his face. But when he looked at Vallens' face, the once shocked look was replaced with a grin.
"What?" Orin said as he looked at Vallen, confused.
Vallen chuckled a bit, remembering the earlier conversation of Orin and his subconscious bragging. He looked at the blade in his hand as a thought flashed in his head.
"Hey Orin, what is the name of our mercenary group?" Vallen asked as he swung the blade lightly in the air.
"Huh, oh that. I haven't thought of the name just yet," Orin said as he clenched his hand, snuffing the flame out. He made a thinking look as he hummed a bit.
"How about the Wandering Blades?" Orin suggested as he snapped his fingers and made a finger gun at Vallen.
"Nah, seems too basic," Vallen said, shooting down the thought, "why not the Golden Blades?"
[Wow, Golden Blades? So cliche.]
"I don't know, none of us have golden tools and blades made of gold aren't really that efficient. It would basically say that we are just flashy warriors with no real talent" Orin said, shooting down Vallens idea.
The two shot ideas to one another. Some had potential, while others made them want to dig a grave for themselves.
[Why not Scarlet Troupe?]
'What?'
[I mean, Orin is going to be the leader of the group right? His eyes are red so the scarlet part and there are only two of you, so troupe.]
'Huh, that actually fits and sounds nice.'
"Hey Orin, I got a good name for our mercenary group."