Aku took a few steps away from the man, earning himself a glance. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Aku's face and ragged clothes before sighing disapprovingly and facing Geoff once again.
The innkeeper, his friendly smile long replaced by a scowl, let out a long exhale and brought his eyes up to meet the other man's.
"Andre, how many times have I told you that you're banned from my bar?"
The atmosphere of the room had completely shifted, and everybody, even the drunken Alek, had fallen silent, watching Geoff and Andre.
Andre laughed, but there was only malice in it. He leaned forward, face to face with Geoff, his eyes displaying a deep bloodlust, which, combined with his dark red eyes, shook Aku to the core.
"And what are you going to do about it?" His malicious smile widened as he leaned further forward, their faces only a few centimeters apart. "What can you do about it?"
Aku heard a few people in the bar sigh, as if this was a common occurrence around here.
A solitary voice spoke up, defending Geoff. "Leave the man alone…" But was abruptly cut off by the hostile gazes of the others in Andre's party, and the man decided to go back to being silent.
The innkeeper outwardly remained calm, but Aku could see his tense jaw and slight tremors in his hands. However, his voice remained steady.
"Do you think being an Inheritor means Balance won't get involved?"
Aku had no idea what an Inheritor was, but based on the venom Geoff said it with and the haughty way Andre's party carried themselves, he assumed it was some kind of twisted royalty. On top of that, he had no clue as to what, or who, Balance was.
Andre's eyes narrowed and a feeling of unease washed over Aku. The man's face suddenly contorted and his body tensed, and suddenly, Andre's left gauntlet became a blur, slamming Geoff in the chin, cracking bone and sending him flying backward into a shelf of expensive alcohol.
However, before the gauntlet had hit Geoff, Akuma was already moving, instinctively dashing towards the Inheritor. As Geoff flew backward, Akuma's right fist was a second away from slamming into Andre's jaw and…
Something wrapped around Aku's neck, choking him for a second as he got yanked backward, nearly causing him to drop his trusty lantern.
Suddenly finding himself sprawled on the ground, Aku groaned and looked up, absolutely dazed. Standing over him with a wooden cane was an old man with short, gray hair and a likewise beard. His skin was a deep tan and covered in wrinkles, and he was looking at Aku with a solemn but kind face.
His cane was extended over Aku's chest, and he realized that the old man had pulled him back. He was honestly surprised that the ancient man had enough strength to stop him.
The old man sighed and outstretched his arm, offering to help him up. Aku grabbed his hand and pulled himself off the floor.
He rubbed his neck, grimacing, and glared at the old man, who was much shorter than Aku.
He looked around for the Inheritors, who were nowhere to be found, presumably having fled the inn. Geoff, who was drenched in blood and alcohol with his jawline placed at a weird angle, was getting helped up by a few men, who then hauled him upstairs to the rooms above. Everyone else in the bar had gone back to what they were doing before.
Turning back to face the old man, he saw him sitting down on one of the high chairs next to the bar. Aku was still a bit disoriented and confused, so he placed his lantern on the ground and sat down to confront the old man.
"What the hell was that about, old man? Who the hell are you?"
The man grinned, but before he could answer, another man called out from a few stools over.
"That's Bast, kid, he's the local idiot. Probably because he does nothing but swing a hammer all day."
The old man, Bast, chuckled, flourishing his hands.
"What this fine gentleman is trying to say, is that I'm the esteemed blacksmith of Genesis, favored by all and known by even the royalty."
The other man scoffed, shaking his head.
"The only reason royalty knows who you are is because you insist on making a nuisance of yourself on the regular. Personally, I'm surprised you haven't been kicked out of Genesis yet, left to rot with the Unholy Creatures outside the walls."
Aku's eye twitched, and his grip on the bar tightened, his knuckles turning white.
"Ah, well that's all fine and good, but frankly, I don't really care. Why the hell did you stop me from hitting that guy, Andre, or whatever his name was?"
Bast smiled. "I don't think old Geoff.." He gestured to the innkeeper who had just gone up the stairs, "...would want any deaths in his fine establishment, right? It would probably tarnish his reputation, especially if it was an Inheritor that was killed."
Aku's confusion only grew more.
"But he was trying to assault Geoff! So what if I were to murder the guy?"
Suddenly, the old man let out a howl of laughter, with tears forming at the edge of his eyes, while Aku just stared at him. Had the old man gone mad? Finally, after about a minute of this laughter, he seemed to calm down, wiping tears off his eyes.
"Gods forbid I ever laugh like that again, I'll probably have a heart attack…" He took a deep, shaky inhale and looked at Aku. "You really think you could kill Andre? I meant you would be the Inheritor who was killed."
Truth be told, Aku's brain hurt.
"Me..? An Inheritor? I don't even know what that means. Also, I totally could've killed that guy…" His mind slowly registered what Bast had said. "Wait, what?"
The old man tilted his head, clearly confused.
"What do you mean you don't know what that means?" Now they were both confused. "Look at your damn eyes, kid. Red, just like Andre's."
Aku's eyes widened as he shifted and glanced at a mirror behind Bast. His irises were, in fact, a deep red. How had he not noticed it before? Aku rubbed his face and looked back at the old man.
"Okay… Then, what does it mean to be an Inheritor?"
Bast sighed and shook his head, clearly still confused because evidently, Inheritors were common knowledge around here.
"How clueless are you? Having those red eyes means you're of Life's lineage."
Aku blinked, giving the geezer a deadpan stare.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me?"
Now, it was Bast's turn to stare.
"Are you… are you being serious?"
Aku nodded, getting annoyed.
"Dead."
Bast shook his head, leaning back on his stool.
"You, kid, are one special case, you know that? How long have you been here, in Genesis?"
Aku thought about that for a moment, looking outside through a window. It was getting dark out, the orange light of dusk shining on the shimmering city.
"About 4 hours, I'd say."
"And where did you come from before?"
"No idea."
"What?"
"No idea."
"You must be joking."
"I wish I was, old man."
Bast sat there for a few moments just looking at him, more than a few questions in his green eyes. After a long stretch of silence, he sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, then stood up with his cane.
"Alright, kid, let's go."
Aku blinked, surprised.
"Go? Go where?"
Bast kept walking, using his cane to help as he hobbled to the door.
"My house, obviously, old men need their rest, and I'm absolutely exhausted after that mess."
He turned back and looked at Aku.
"And if memory serves, you're too broke to afford a room, so I imagined you'd be grateful for a place to stay, no?"
Aku was already on his feet, grabbing his lantern and walking quickly to catch up with the old man. He was pretty fast for someone with a cane. They walked out of the bar into the streets, walking down the marble road.
"Are you gonna explain what an Inheritor is, or what?"
Bast laughed, his eyes crinkling as he smiled.
"Boy, you youths these days… no patience at all. I'll tell you when we get to my shop."
"Your shop? I thought we were going to your house."
"Same thing."
"You live in your shop?"
"I do."
"Why? Couldn't you afford a house?"
"Couldn't you afford a single night at an inn?"
Aku decided to stay silent the rest of the walk.